Genesis
by OokamiManiakku
Summary: Dropped. I do not like this story anymore. xD If you want to read the new version, read "Genesis: Reborn". Thank you.
1. Chapter 1

**Genesis**

By Ookami Maniakku

**Noun: genesis (geneses)**

**1.** a coming into being

Synonyms: generation

**2.** the first book of the Old Testament: tells of creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers

Chapter One

The sound of heavy breathing followed her as she raced through the woods. The young girl's extreme speed and heightened senses detected any obstacles and she easily maneuvered around them, hoping to lose the pack on her tail. Emerald eyes darted left and right, looking for a clean route out of the forest, but the brush was too dense. Small animals scurried into their hiding places, sensing danger as she approached.

A fallen log, seeming to come out of nowhere, caught her foot, and the young girl fell flat on her stomach on the ground. Her heart raced faster and she scrambled to her feet, desperate to get away, only to realize she was too late. She'd wasted too much time. In front of her, three wolves snarled and growled viciously, drool hanging from their maw. Each of them were a different color, but the most distinct one, the leader of the pack, was black with a white stripe down his back. He edged closer.

"Get away!" The girl shouted, stumbling backwards. Her back hit something. She turned around to see three men standing there, each one armed with a different weapon. The two on the sides were big and burly, they could easily rip her to shreds with their bare hands. The one in the middle was much younger and smaller than the other two, but he was still bigger than her. His light brown hair was shaggy and long, combed neatly behind his pointed ears. The trench coat he wore swayed in the slight breeze as he pointed the gun at the girl.

"Trying to run away again, Ashley?" He asked, cocking the gun. The girl backed up, almost into the pack of wolves, her eyes wide with fear.

"Why don't you guys just... leave me alone, Zachary?!" She shouted. The boy smirked.

"Because we're a pack. We don't leave our members behind... no matter what." His golden eyes flashed. "And you, dear Alphaess, are part of the pack now. You're one of us." He pulled the gun down and re-holstered it on his leg.

"I don't want to be part of the pack anymore!" Ashley shouted angrily, her front teeth lengthening into fangs. "I don't want you!" She screamed. Zachary chuckled.

"Don't bother changing, Ashley. It's not like you're any faster or stronger on four paws." He crossed his arms. Ashley opened her mouth to speak until she heard a crackling behind her. Turning around, she saw the wolves were no longer there. Instead, there were now two men and one young woman standing there. The two men were only clothed in ripped shorts, and the girl had on a t-shirt as well. The center man had the same black and white-striped hair that the wolf before him had.

"William, grab her. I'm sure Damian will want to see his precious heir again." Zachary turned and walked away, the two brutes next to him, following. Ashley spun around to face the other three. She shook her head.

"No.. Will, please." She said softly. "Don't do this. You know what Damian will do to me." She pleaded.

William's blue eyes became glassy and he looked away. "And you know what they'll do to me if I let you go." He said quietly. Ashley swallowed hard.

"Then run away. Like me." She said. "You don't like this pack anymore than I do. You can find a new one. In Yellowstone even, people would never know you were a lycan-"

"William, what are you waiting for? Grab the girl!" The woman shouted. William growled and glared at her, causing her to step back.

"I know what I am doing, Fae. I do not need your help!" He shouted. The woman stared at the ground, not saying another word. William looked back up at Ashley.

"I'm sorry, Ash." He said, his expression dropping. "I can't disobey an order." As Ashley tried to back up and run off again, William reached out and grabbed her arm. "I really am sorry." He said quietly, pulling her back. She screamed and tried to kick him, but his reflexes were too quick and he dodged the attack, grabbing her leg instead. William heaved her over his shoulder and ignored the punching and kicking she tried to do.

"Come. Damian's waiting..." He said to the others. Almost at once, the two had changed back into wolves and raced off as William kept his human form, chasing after them.

The clearing in the woods was full of scrap piles of tree bark or hardened mud to serve as dens for animals. Some even were made of stone. But there was one den that was not like the others. One was carved out of stone, like a cave, but set high on a hill of dirt. William and his companions entered the den area, passing by the wolves that scurried about. There were even a few puppies that dared tangle around William's feet, trying to playfully cause him to fall. But the two wolves who had been with William snapped at the pups and they ran away whining. William carried Ashley up the make-shift steps of dirt and dropped her at the entrance of the stone cave.

"Damian!" He called, holding Ashley so she couldn't escape. Two, yellow eyes shone out of the darkness, and soon, a tall man with black hair stepped out, eying Ashley.

"Ahh.. good work, William. You and your team will be rewarded greatly for this." He smiled, grabbing Ashley's arm. William bowed respectfully and let go.

"William! Please!" Ashley shouted, reaching out for him. But the older man flashed a sad smile at her and turned away, marching back down the steps while Damian dragged Ashley inside the cave.

He threw her against the stone wall. "What did you think you were doing?!" He shouted angrily. Ashley rubbed her head and stood up wobbily.. but she did not answer. "Did you think you would actually get away?" Damian chuckled. "This is the second time this week you've tried your little escape act, Miss Courman."

"And both times I've almost made it out." Ashley smiled, showing long fangs. Damian narrowed his eyes. "Both times your best teams couldn't catch me until the very end." She snickered. "I guess that's saying something about your pack, isn't it, dear _Alpha?_" She smirked. Damian growled and swiped her across the face with his long claws.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" He shouted. "You are not Alpha yet, Fae. And even when you are you will never speak to me like that!"

"I'm not going to be Alpha!" Ashley shouted. "I would never lead a clan of smelly pack-animals around turning others into what we are and feeding off of fear!" She shouted. Damian's face grew red with anger. "This pack is savage! I will not be a part of it!" She stood up, but Damian grabbed the collar of her shirt and slammed her up against the stone wall again.

"Oh really? Then how do you explain young Zachary's state?" He asked. "Weren't you the one to turn him? You know he's yours now." He grinned. Ashley fought his grip.

"That doesn't matter! I won't do it!" She shouted.

"You do not have a choice, Courman." He said quietly. "Apparently you've let your love and care for _humankind_ go too far. I knew I should have given you The Treatment when you first got here." He smiled. Ashley's eyes widened. "Your human side has gotten in the way too much, I'm afraid. Maybe it's time you get the Deadly Night Shade." He dropped her and she crumpled to the floor.

"No! Please!" She begged. "I won't run away again. Just... don't do that!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. Damian's yellow eyes flashed.

"It's too late for that now, Girl." He said evilly, stepping to the front of the cave. "Prepare a fire! It's time for the ceremony!" He shouted. Every wolf in the den area perked their ears up to listen. A few people, just standing around, stood up to attention when Damian spoke. William, standing alone at the edge of the den area, didn't bother turning around to hear his Alpha. He just stared at the ground, eyes glassy. He had changed now, back to his regular style of a leather jacket and blue jeans. Arms crossed, he leaned against a tree trunk, listening to the harsh words Damian spoke about Ashley. He grit his teeth. Why'd it have to be her? The one who reminded him so much of his own daughter? He wiped his face before the tears trickled down his scruffy cheeks. He knew the Night Shade Treatment was extremely painful. The plant was toxic to humans and a big enough dose could kill them. But to lycans... it was a form of torture. The weeds would secrete their venom, soaking into the werewolf's skin. It would act almost like magic, erasing any human feeling left inside the body. When the treatment was complete, the humanity of the subject.. was gone. William hadn't been put through the treatment when he first joined the pack, and was able to feel human emotions... remember his family and what it was like before he became a lycan. But many were not as lucky as William. If the Alpha of a pack smelled weakness, fear, he would use the Treatment to replace those feelings with instinct.

"Bring the belladonna. The ceremony will take place in the center of the clan." Damian said from his cave. His voice echoed through the den area. Zachary, accompanied by his two brutes watched as more members of the pack immediately began pulling wood into place while other wolves ran off to find the belladonna.

"So... she's finally getting what she deserves." Zachary smiled. "About time they used that on her." He blew his bangs out of his face carelessly. "I told Damian she was different. I told him he should have given her The Treatment."

"He thought differently." One brute said in a low voice.

"She seemed to have a leader's mind. He sensed it in her when she first stepped onto our terra." The other added.

"Yes, but I am her partner." Zachary's smile faded. "I am her mate. I know her more than anyone. Damian may have thought she was good enough to be Alpha one day..." He narrowed his eyes. "But I knew she was just another _human." _He spat on the ground. "She still has a human heart..."

Ashley's wide eyes were now even wider, if it were possible. Tears trickled down her face. Her hands shook with fear as she tried to stand up again. Balancing herself on the wall, she made her way up to the front of the cave, next to Damian, watching a platform of wood being built in the center of the den area. Stones surrounded it for reinforcement, and wolves were bringing in plants from the forest, placing them on the wooden platform.

"Damian... please..." She said, clenching her fists. "Don't do this to me." She knew she was too tired now to take off again, and that she would be easily caught, so she decided not to run.

"It's your own fault, Ashley." Damian stared down at his pack, his voice quiet and serious. "I thought you were different as soon as you came to me. I thought you would be the strongest member of the pack.. the one to lead us when I was unable." He narrowed his eyes. "Now I see that Zachary was right. You are different... but in another way." He glared at her. "A wereling."

Ashley didn't look at him. "I don't care what you say I am. I don't even know what that means... I didn't ask for this- this curse. I didn't mean to add Zachery to this misery. If it were up to me..." She sighed. "I would rather have died than done any of this..."

Damian growled lightly and looked back over his pack. "I had high hopes for you Ashley." He said. Ashley looked up. "I had hoped you were a natural. I didn't want to do this to you.. but you leave me no choice."

Struggling to get free, Ashley fought the two brutes who had hold of her. They brought her down to the wooden platform covered in belladonna. There were dried leaves surrounding the platform, and one person was holding a torch, ready to light the leaves. Every member of the pack formed a wide circle around the leaves, about two yards away. The two brutes hanging onto Ashley stopped and let Damian through before getting to the platform. Zachary was standing at the front of the crowd, smiling and glaring at Ashley. William hadn't moved. He stayed at the edge of the den area, his back turned to the pack.

"Ashley Courman, a thirteen-year old girl came to us months ago in search of answers." Damian said to the crowd. "We welcomed her and her partner, Zachary Bennett, into our pack graciously, providing necessities as well as information. But Ashley saw our group to be unfit. She has tried to escape us several times now and failed." He stepped up to the man holding the torch. "It was my mistake not to do this ceremony for her when she arrived, for I thought her to be different from the rest. Ashley's partner, Zachary, had The Treatment, but I deemed it unnecessary for her. I see now that I was wrong." He took the torch from the man. "Now it seems as though the human part of Ashley's heart has found its way to the surface and has been troublesome for quite some time. It is my intent to get rid of that very essence of humanity that wishes to stop us." He glared at Ashley who was thinking about what she'd seen Zachary go through. She remembered his screams of pain and terror and the black aura that surrounded him when the flames were set. She had hoped never to have that happen to herself.

"The ceremony will now begin!" Damian shouted. Everyone in the crowd either cheered or whispered to each other in gossip. Ashley struggled against the brutes again as they stepped up to the platform.

"Bye bye." One whispered to her.

"Catch you on the flip-side." The other snickered. Both picked her up and tossed her onto the wooden platform. Ashley scrambled for the edges but quickly stopped when Damian swiped the torch across the dried leaves at the edges and the whole circle went up in flames. She stood up, paralyzed with fear, watching the grinning faces of her pack. They began to chant something she couldn't understand, but the sound was horrible. She covered her ears and shook her head, trying to tell herself it was just a hallucination. A few minutes passed colors danced in her vision. Her knees gave out, causing her to fall backwards onto the pile of belladonna. Almost immediately, she felt the plants curl up her arms and legs, trying to keep away from the flame. She knew this was just another illusion, but she couldn't help thinking about how real it seemed. Soon, her breathing quickened and streaks of pain shot through her body. She screamed and clenched her fists, trying to throw the plants away from herself, but her nervous system was on the fritz. She couldn't control any part of her body anymore other than curling up into herself. She pulled her knees up to her chest and flopped over on her side, screaming again.

Zachary remained expressionless as he watched the ceremony. He knew what she was going through... the voices.. the pain... the hallucinations... He looked away from the fire, trying to tune out her screams. All of the pack watched in silence. None of them were chanting like Ashley was hearing. Instead, they were all watching in shock or horror.

"What is happening?" Damian asked himself. "She should have broken by now." He narrowed his eyes on the fire.

William winced when he heard Ashley scream and he couldn't help but look up, watching her squirm around inside the circle. He couldn't imagine what she was going through, but hearing her blood-curdling cries chilled him to the core.

"I can't let this happen..." He told himself, gritting his teeth. "This isn't right..." He jogged up to the crowd. Being much taller than anyone else, he could see clearly what was happening from the outside.

"What?!" His eyes widened. "The aura... it hasn't happened yet. The ceremony's been going on for at least ten minutes now... How could she be so strong?" He bit his lip. "I.. I have to do something." He backed up from the crowd. "I can't take it anymore. I have to help her before it's too late..." He raced off in the opposite direction.

Ashley's whole body was trembling, her eyes shut. Red rashes were beginning to pop up all over her skin due to the toxins inside the plant. She was being covered with poison, and the more she fought it... the more painful it became.

_I can't give up..._ She thought, wriggling around uncontrollably. _I can't just let them win... I won't let them win. I'm not a monster..._ The tears rolling down her face evaporated in the heat from the fire before they even reached her chin. _I won't lose this battle! I won't!_ Her fists clenched and she desperately tried to sit up, only to fall back down on her back. She blinked, seeing white energy lift up from her hands and fingers. She narrowed her eyes... was this another hallucination?

Damian stepped back from the platform, narrowing his eyes. White energy was rising up from Ashley's body. "What is that?" He asked, in awe. "It couldn't be her aura. No... auras are black.. or red..." His eyes widened. "Unless..." _A wereling..._

"What's going on?" One of the brutes asked quietly.

"No way..." Said the other. The white energy trailed up Ashley's arms and legs until the separate streams of light joined together at her chest. The ball of white energy expanded and grew to cover her entire body while she squirmed about.

Zachary furrowed his eyebrows.

"I knew it." He growled. "I had a feeling this wouldn't work. I could sense it in her the moment she sunk her teeth into me." His fangs grew out. He rubbed his neck. "That aura... her life energy... it's light... Her heart is pure..." He spat on the ground. "It sickens me." He turned away and walked over to Damian.

"This isn't working." He said angrily. Damian held up his hand.

"It will. Her aura may be different, but that doesn't mean it can't be broken. She's just taking longer. Ashley has a strong will. All of us know that..." He grit his teeth. "It _will_ work..." He said this more to himself than to anyone.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, torrents of water started rushing in on the pack, dousing the flames of the fire and soaking everyone. Many of the members of the pack ran and hid in their dens while others stood stunned at what was going on. Smoke rose up from the extinguished fire, but Ashley remained on the platform, squirming about underneath a blanket of white energy and smoke. Damian and company looked around for the source of the sudden flood and found the stream of water coming from deep in the woods.

"Where is this water coming from?!" Damian shouted angrily. Zachary looked around and sniffed the air.

"The dam." He said quietly. "I smell the blood of a traitor amongst us."

Damian narrowed his eyes and looked through the smoke to see William standing on the other side of the fire, in the path of the foot-deep water, breathing heavily.

"William!?" He shouted. William grinned.

"I'm not letting you do this to another innocent person." He ran up to the platform, reaching down to scoop up Ashley when one of the brutes knocked him away.

"How could you?!" Damian shouted, walking up to William, who was being held back by the brute. "You disgrace our clan! What are you thinking?!"

Zachary stepped up. "He's weak." He narrowed his eyes. "He cares for her."

William frowned. He fought to get away, darting his eyes back and forth between Ashley and Damian. "What was I thinking?" William snickered. "I was thinking she has a chance for a normal life... I was thinking if she got away from here she might have a family some day. I was thinking I could help!" He grabbed the brute hanging onto him, spun around and kicked him away, into Damian, knocking the leader down as well. Zachary backed up, as William ran past him, knocked off-balance when William shoved him out of the way.

"Get off of me!" Damian shouted. "Zachary, get him! The ceremony can't be interrupted!"

Zachary's golden eyes flashed and he leapt away, chasing after William. William ran up to the platform, bent down, and grabbed Ashley's arm. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"It's okay. I'm here to help." He said quietly, gently pulling her arm, until he was kicked away by Zachary. The boy looked down at Ashley.

"Hey Babe." He winked at her and smiled. She grit her teeth and tried to speak, but he interrupted. "Just looking out for you like I'm supposed to. After all, I am _yours _now..." He walked back over to William, who was coughing from the blow to his chest.

"Bad move, Old Man." Zachary hissed. William growled.

"Out of my way, Zachary. I don't want to hurt you." He said hoarsely. Zachary smirked.

"It wouldn't be me getting hurt." He rhetorted. William stepped up to him, looking him in the eye.

"Move."

"Make me." Zachary smiled. William narrowed his eyes and swung his fist around to smack him in the side of the head, but Zachary caught his arm before it reached him... without even looking. "You're getting slow, Will. Haven't used your powers in a while, eh?" Zachary used his other hand to send a punch into William's stomach, but the man caught his fist. Zachary frowned.

"Who's slow now, Whipper-snapper?" William chuckled, pushing Zachary away. While the boy tried to regain his balance, William took the opportunity to jump up and aim a powerful kick to the his stomach, knocking Zachary back a couple feet. William ran back over to the platform and managed to pull Ashley half-way off before another member of the pack knocked him away. He was now facing two wolves and Zachary.

As the four fought, William was managing to dodge their attacks. His evasiveness was extremely high for his age.

"W..Will..." Ashley coughed, flinging her arms off of the platform. She grabbed handfuls of dirt, trying to pull herself off. Her legs still weren't responding right from the belladonna that was surrounding it, and her body was still glowing lightly from the white energy. She looked up just in time to see William heave one of the wolves over his head and throw it down. She winced. "Be careful..." Finally, after many times of trying, she managed to pull herself all the way off of the platform, wiping off any of the belladonna that had clung to her jeans. The red, itchy rashes covering her skin started disappearing immediately as the white energy dissipated. Ashley gasped, feeling the energy rush through her veins, back into her body. She expanded and contracted her fingers and toes to make sure they were responding and then stood up wobbily.

"I've got to help him now..." She said, realizing now that the water was becoming more shallow. The hole in the dam must not have been very big. Soon, the rest of the pack members that had hid from the water would come out and fight. Then, both she and William were going to be in some real trouble...

Ashley raced forward, trying to ignore the streaking pains still running through her body, and knocked a wolf away before it could attack William from behind. He turned around and smiled when he saw her, trying to keep another wolf at bay.

"You're okay!" He shouted. Ashley smiled.

"Thanks to you. I was close to giving up." She jumped up and kicked another of the creatures in the abdomen, knocking it away.

"You? Give up?" William smirked. "No way." He watched Zachary standing up, and Damian ordering more pack members to attack. "Ash, you gotta get out of here." William said.

"What?"

"That's the reason I stopped the ceremony. I want you to go. Run as far as you can and don't stop. Don't look back." He grabbed her shoulders. Ashley blinked.

"No, I'm going to help you-"

"Ashley! Don't argue with me!" William shouted. Ashley closed her mouth. "If they catch you, they'll just do the same thing to you! And I might not be able to help you next time!" He breathed in deeply as four more wolves and Zachary ran at him. "Go! Please!" He shouted, pushing Ashley away. The girl stumbled before taking off, only looking back to see William being pulled down to the ground by more of the pack...


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings: **Talk of death; Religious material

**Spoilers:** None

**Author's Notes: **1.) I do not know if I got these court terms right. I did research on it, but I'm still not sure. 2.) I have no idea where Amity Park is really located. I saw all episodes up until Phantom Planet, and I didn't hear them talk about it being anywhere other than near Lake Eerie. So, I just stuck it in Ohio. Go along with it please. xD

Chapter Two

_One year later..._

The court room was all but empty. Nobody sat in the Spectators' Gallery facing the bench... the judge and the lawyer were the only audience. Ashley sat in the Witness Box, looking down at her folded hands. The man standing next to her patted her on the shoulder and offered her a warm smile. She didn't look up. He shook his head sadly and stood at attention when the judge entered the room. The short, pudgy man waddled his way up to the bench and sat down. He had several forms in his hands and he looked each one over carefully and then at the two figures in front of him. His eyes rested on Ashley.

"You are Ashley.. Jenna Courman?" He asked, looking at his papers again. Ashley nodded.

"Yes, Sir." The man next to her answered.

"It seems Ashley has a grandfather who lives in..." He narrowed his eyes on the sentence and fiddled with his glasses. "Amity Park, Ohio..." He finished, clearing his throat. "Jonathon Adam Courman is Samuel Adam Courman's father. He is seventy-three years old and runs a small farm on the outskirts of the city." He put the paper down and looked at the man standing next to Ashley. "Mr. Walker, I thought you told me she had no descendants left alive." He said.

The man straightened his tie uncomfortably. "Well... the Cheyenne Police Department couldn't locate anyone-"

"So you're saying it was the Police's mistake?" The judge asked. Ashley raised an eyebrow and looked up at Walker. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Well.. um... yes, Sir..." He said. The judge remained expressionless.

"Don't you work for the CPD?" He asked. Walker flashed a short smile.

"Yes, Your Honor. But I don't work in that depart-"

"Whatever." The judge rolled his eyes. Walker looked down at Ashley and smiled again when he saw she was watching him curiously. "Mr. Courman has agreed to take in his granddaughter and raise her." He stacked the papers up.

"Does he need to fill out any forms?" Walker asked. "Does she?" He pointed to Ashley. The judge shook his head.

"No. Everything's already been taken care of. You may take Miss Courman to Amity Park as soon as you're ready, Mr. Walker." The judge stood up and began waddling back out of the room. Walker looked down at Ashley, who was staring back down at her lap again.

"Well, it looks like we found you someone." He bent down to her level. "I'm sure your grandfather is a nice guy." He smiled. Ashley looked up, her emerald eyes seeming to glow.

"I didn't know I had a grandfather..." She said quietly. Walker sighed.

"You and me both." He picked up the brief case on the desk and gathered his papers.

"It's funny..." She said softly. Walker raised an eyebrow and paused, listening to her soft voice. "Your grandparents should be dead before your parents..." She crossed her arms. "They shouldn't have-" Tears flooded her eyes and she couldn't continue, wiping her face with her sweatshirt sleeves. Walker wrapped his arms around her.

"I know they wouldn't want to see you like this, Ashley," He said gently. Ashley shook her head.

"I don't know if I can go..." She said shakily. Walker furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Her eyes were pink and puffy with tears. Her long, black hair was brushed neatly and her bangs swung over her left eye, covering the crescent-shaped red scar that ran down the side of it.

"I mean... the attacks... I don't know if I should-" She sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeves again.

"Oh Ashley, that wasn't your fault. An animal did that. You're lucky you're still here." He said. Ashley didn't make eye contact. She didn't say a word. "Listen, Ashley. Your foster family, the Graces, lived out in the woods. There are animals out there. It wasn't your fault." He explained. Ashley shook her head again and Walker stood up.

"You'll be fine. I promise." He said, smiling. She stood up as well, her sleeves billowing far below her fingertips as they fell back down to her sides. Walker patted her on the back and then stepped in front of her. She lowered her head, looking at the floor, and followed his lead as they walked out of the court room.

The yellow taxi pulled up to the airport and flung its passenger doors open. Walker grabbed Ashley's bags and stuffed them in the trunk, then slipped into the seat behind the driver. Ashley sat down next to him, instinctively putting her seat belt on. She gripped the arm rest next to her nervously as the car took off. Walker smiled, watching her. At least she hadn't screamed yet...

"Shouldn't be long now." He said, looking out the window. Ashley's eyes were focused on the back of the seat in front of her... she hadn't blinked yet. "Ashley..." Walker said. She didn't answer. "Ashley." He shook her shoulder. She blinked twice and looked over at him.

"What?"

"Calm down. We're not going to crash." He assured her. She smirked.

"That's what Dad said." She hissed. He blinked.

"Ashley.. you're going to be okay. Why don't you take a nap? You didn't sleep at all on the plane." He sneezed. "When we get there... I'll wake you up." He sneezed again. "Jeez!"

"What's wrong with you?" Ashley asked. Walker shrugged and shook his head. He looked at the driver through the rear-view mirror. "Do you own any dogs?" He asked. The driver shook his head. "Man... the only thing I'm allergic to is dogs..." Walker unrolled the window and sneezed again. Ashley swallowed hard.

"D-dogs?" She asked. "Um... I used to have two dogs... I might still have their hair on my clothes..." Yeah, that was a perfect alibi. Walker shrugged.

"That must be it." He blew his nose into a tissue. "Sleep. Now." He ordered her. Ashley sighed and leaned her head against the car door. She _was_ tired... and her eyelids _were_ heavy...

She yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep gently.

"Ashley..." Walker's soft voice entered her mind. "Ashley... wake up. We're here." He said quietly. Ashley immediately snapped her eyes open and sat up quickly. She didn't even look tired anymore. "Sheesh, Girl." Walker chuckled. "What are you so jumpy for?" He asked. Ashley blinked.

"Jumpy? I'm not jumpy..." She opened the door and stepped out. Walker followed suit and took her bags out of the trunk of the taxi.

"Well... here we are. Courman Manor..." He chuckled and walked ahead of the car. Ashley raised an eyebrow. All she could see from the road were bushes. But as they got closer, the bushes parted to show a skinny, gravel driveway. Walker led her up the long, winding driveway that stretched in between the acres of farmland on each side. On one side of the property, Ashley saw chickens in a coop a few yards away, a couple goats and sheep together in a pen and a barn way back on the property. There was a horse chewing on some grass near the barn. She walked up the front porch steps and looked to the right where she saw a decent-sized garden full of vegetables. Behind the house, about ten yards away, stretched a massive forest.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

The rapping on the door made her lose her train of thought. She blinked at Walker, who was smiling brightly. Soon, there was some fumbling behind the door like locks being pushed aside and the creaky door opened. Ashley hadn't even noticed the small house in the middle of the farmland. It was old and dirty. The siding needed replaced and the tiles on the roof were coming off. She wrinkled her nose. One of the windows was boarded up, and an old jalopy sat in the driveway.

"Hello?" Came a voice from inside the dimly-lit house. A short, old man poked his head out the door. Ashley, being about five and a half feet tall, was much taller than the man, and didn't really know how to react when she saw him.

"Mr. Courman?" Walker spoke up. The old man adjusted his thick glasses on his nose and squinted his eyes to see the detective.

"Yes?" He answered. Walker smiled.

"My name is Alex Walker. I'm a detective for the Cheyenne Police Department in Wyoming." He introduced. "It is my understanding that you agreed to take your granddaughter, Ashley Courman?"

The old man flashed an almost-toothless smile and nodded. "Yep. That'd be me." He said. Walker looked over at Ashley.

"Well... here she is!" He nudged her forward. Ashley's eyes widened. Jonathon opened the door all the way to show he was wearing a flannel shirt and over-alls... just like a farmer. He looked Ashley up and down for a few moments, silent. She swallowed hard and looked over at Walker.

"Ashley!" Jonathon cried, scurrying out of the house. He hugged the girl. "My my my! Look at how tall you are!" He chuckled. "I remember when you were just a baby..."

"Uh..." Ashley cleared her throat. "Hi.. John..." She said nervously.

The old man smiled. "I understand if you don't feel comfortable callin' me 'Grampa'. I haven't seen you for about twelve years." He chuckled and looked back over at Walker. "Thank you, Mr. Walker. Is there anything I need to sign?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. Uh.. here..." Walker handed Jonathon a clipboard. "Just sign on the dotted line." He chuckled. Jonathon quickly sketched his name down and handed the detective back his clipboard.

"Here, Hun. I'll take your bags." Jonathon reached down to grab them.

"Oh! No, please. They're too-" Ashley watched him pick a suitcase up in each arm. "..Heavy?" She raised an eyebrow. Jonathon laughed, putting the cases down inside the house.

"Just 'cause I'm an old coot doesn't mean I'm weak." He wagged a finger at her. "Why, when I was your age... I was as strong as a gorilla!" He rubbed his hands together. Ashley smiled a little.

"Well, I'm sure you two will have fun together." Walker ruffled Ashley's hair. "If you ever need me, you know my number." He winked at them. "See ya later." And he was off, down the creaking steps. Ashley frowned, watching him walk away. She was nervous, scared.

"Well! Let's get you settled in, shall we?" John asked, going back inside the house. Ashley looked at the door, sighed, and stepped through.

The kitchen was a mess. Dishes were piled up in the sink, the counters were stained, the floor needed swept. Ashley scrunched her nose passing through, following her grandfather into the next room.

"Next to the kitchen is the den," He said, carrying her bags. "That's where I sleep. Over here's the livin' room." He walked into the next room, attached to the kitchen.

The living room wasn't much cleaner. The couch and chairs were stained, pillows thrown around and just miscellaneous junk everywhere. John led her to a small doorway next to the closet in the room. He opened it to reveal a staircase that led to the upper level.

"Up there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. I don't go up there too often on account of my knees bein' sore, so everything up there's been covered with sheets or painted white. You can do whatever you like to that second story up there since I don't see it anyways."

Ashley looked at the staircase and then back at him. "Thank you, John." She said quietly. John smiled and handed her suitcases to her.

"You don't have to thank me for anything." He patted her on the back and sent her up the stairs.

Once Ashley reached the top of the stairs, she sat her bags down. In front of her stretched a long hallway with two doors on the left wall and two doors on the right. Ashley walked up to the first door on the left and opened it cautiously. The bathroom inside was dusty and dim. There were light bulbs missing from the track lights above and no shower curtain in the bath tub.

Ashley shut the door again and moved over to the right side of the room. She opened the first door carefully and peeked inside. There was a small, twin-sized bed on the opposite side of the room and a big closet that was missing the door.

Upon opening the second door on the right, Ashley saw a bigger room with nothing inside. There were two different closet doors on each side of the room, and she walked up to the bigger one. When she opened the door, a bed fell out! Ashley yelped and leaped away before the bed could hit her.

"A hide-away bed..." She chuckled and pushed the bed back into the closet, closed the doors.

The last door- the second one on the left from the staircase- remained closed. Ashley stepped up to it, but something caught her eye. On the wall beside her-the one parallel to the stairs- was an old, boarded-up window. She decided to investigate it later, and opened the door.

The final bedroom was big and roomy. There was a big, canopy bed on one wall and some old furniture that was covered up with sheets. Ashley walked up to one rather large piece of furniture and pulled the sheet off of it. Underneath was a big, antique-looking dresser. Next to that was a vanity, and next to that was an old desk. Ashley smiled, she liked this room the best. She dragged her bags into the room and plopped them on the old bed, kicking up the settled dust. Ashley held her breath, walked over to a window and opened it, waving all the dust outside.

Once she was settled in, Ashley stepped out of her bedroom to investigate the boarded-up window. She walked up to it and pulled one of the wooden boards off of the bottom part. It came off easily. Then she took another board off.. and another until the whole window was showing. Ashley stepped backwards, staring in awe at the window. It was beautiful. The stained glass featured a white cross surrounded by a mixture of blues. She smiled.

"The cross..." She whispered to herself. "It means... hope..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings:** Strong, religious elements; Minor, brief language

**Spoilers:** None

**Author's Notes:** This is an old chapter- forgive me if it's no good. anime sweatdrop

Chapter Three

Ashley stepped sleepily out of her plain, white bedroom on the second story of her grandfather's old, beat-up farmhouse. The house was located on the city limits of AmityPark.

ity Park, about a mile away from downtown. Ashley was living with her grandfather now, since no other foster family was able to- or wanted to- take her in. Detective Alex Walker was the man in charge of getting her a home, and he kindly dropped her off here, where she'd be staying, hopefully, for the rest of her childhood. Ashley was only fourteen years of age, but already she had been put through so much. The young girl was pale and sickly-looking constantly from her state of mind. Stress, fear, and pain accompanied her every day and she wanted nothing to do with the outside world. Her grandfather, John Courman, was determined to change that.

So, when Ashley stumbled down the stairs, her eyes half-closed, her grandfather was waiting, wearing a big grin across his face. Ashley hardly took notice of this, because since she first arrived, John was always smiling. It kind of creeped her out.

"Morning, John." She yawned. Ashley hadn't seen her grandfather since she was very little, so calling him "grandpa" made her uncomfortable. John had accepted that, and come up with his own name for her.

"G'morning, Squirt!" He chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I got a big job for you today."

Ashley blinked. "Huh?"

"I'm going to teach you to be a farmer!" He picked up a pile of stuff all strewn together in a messy clump and dumped it in her arms. "Here's your gear! Put it on and meet me outside."

Ashley watched him scurry out of the living room and sighed. Ordinarily, she would have complained about doing the work, but seeing how happy and nice her grandfather was, she didn't think she could take seeing a frown on his face. Unwillingly, she trotted back up the stairs to the bathroom and got changed.

A few minutes later, Ashley was outside with John, both of them dressed in the same outfit: red, flannel shirt and over-alls, equipped with boots, gloves and a straw hat. Ashley's clothes were very uncomfortable. The over-alls were baggy and heavy, while the shirt felt like it was two sizes too small. The boots were squeaky, and the gloves and hat were itchy. Very itchy.

"So... what am I doing, exactly?" She asked, irritably. John just smiled at her unhappy expression.

"Yer gonna take care of the animals while I take care of the garden!" He handed her a brush and a tool that looked like scissors. "Here ya go! The sheep need a clippin' and brushed. Watch out for Billy, though. He doesn't take kindly to strangers."

"Billy?"

"Yep! Billy, the billy-goat. He's very protective over them sheep. Don't worry though, I shaved down his horns. He ain't gonna stab ya. Just..." He paused for a moment. "Don't make any sudden movements."

Ashley's eyes widened. As John explained how to sheer the sheep, she paid close attention. It was actually rather interesting.. and seeing as how she could understand animals better than most people might, she ended up thinking it would be a piece of cake.

She was wrong.

"No! Billy! Bad.. goat!" Ashley sat atop a mountain of hay and dirt, watching the black goat below her trying to ram the mound with his head. "Come on, Billy! I'm not gonna hurt you!" She shouted. The goat wouldn't let up. In fact, the hill of dirt started eroding the more he smashed into it. Three sheep stood in the opposite corner of the pen, chewing on grass and watching the two curiously. Ashley's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, this isn't working. Let's try a little intimidation." She curled back her upper lip to show two, long canine teeth. Ashley squatted down and glared at the goat, a low growl rumbling in her throat. The goat tilted its head at her one way, then the other, and backed up slightly. Ashley climbed down the dirt hill and smiled. She growled louder... the goat backed away more. "There. That'll teach you! Ashley Courman is afraid of no go-" As soon as she stopped growling, Billy charged at her, thrusting his hard skull into her stomach. Her sentence was cut short, and she fell backwards, flipping head-over-heels. The goat bayed, almost laughing at her.

"Shit! That's it, Goat." Ashley sprung up and ran at the goat, trying to grab it around the neck. But Billy just side-stepped and Ashley stumbled over her own feet, falling flat in a mud puddle. Billy came around the other side, stuck his back hooves in the puddle, and kicked up the mud in her face before walking away. Ashley sighed and sniffed. Something smelled funny.

"I really hope this is mud..." She said quietly.

"Billy! Look what you did!"

To Ashley's relief, her grandfather had entered the pen. He chuckled and walked over to her, helping her off of the ground.

"Bad boy, Billy." He wagged his finger at the goat and the animal trotted away. "So, having fun?" He asked.

Ashley glared at him. "I hate that animal."

"I told you Billy was a handful," John said. "Or rather.. a face-full." He wiped some of the mud from Ashley's face. Her glare didn't subside. "All right, I guess I'll take care of the sheep. Why don't you go feed the chickens and collect the eggs?"

"The chickens are harmless.. right?" Ashley asked. John nodded.

"Perfectly. Just spread the feed around outside the coop and while they're eatin', collect the eggs before the

Rooster gets to them. Otherwise, we have more chickens on our hands." He took the brush and clippers from her and handed her a basket instead. "Now, git goin' if you want this done by sunset."

"Sunset?!" Ashley cried. "We have to work until sunset?!"

"It's not my fault you didn't get up at five when I told you to." John patted her on the back. "Go ahead. The chickens are a-waitin'."

This task was much easier than taking care of the sheep, Ashley mused. She spread the chicken feed around on the ground in front of the coop and watched the white, brown and blond hens come clucking out, bobbing their heads around and eyeing her before finally pecking the food up. Ashley smiled and slid past them, entering the coop. There were only two hens that did not come out to eat with the group, and John had told her that those chickens were incubating their eggs, and to not disturb them. Within twenty minutes, Ashley had gathered up all the eggs in the coop and made it out before the hens were done eating. She picked one of the eggs up and held it to the sun, looking through the shell at the shadow of the yolk inside.

As she was studying the egg, a rooster of great size waddled over to the side of the chicken coop, stationed on the roof a few feet above Ashley. His magnificent feathers were a chocolate color and his beady, black eyes blinked at her. Then, suddenly and without warning, the rooster let loose a massive crow to the sun, puffing his chest out as he called.

This surprised Ashley so much, her hands jerked, and the egg went flying into the air, eventually coming back down and splatting on her head. Yolk dripped down, into her face.

"Bad. Day." She said through gritted teeth, looking up at the rooster on the tin roof of the chicken coop. He tilted his head at her. "You're dinner tomorrow." She threatened, pointing a finger accusingly at him and walked away. The rooster flapped his wings a little bit and hopped down to the ground to finish eating with the hens.

Finally, night fell and Ashley slumped into the bench on the porch of the house. She was covered in mud, straw and egg from head to toe.

"Good job today, Squirt." John walked up, peeling his gloves off of his hands. "You worked hard."

"I think I'm going to die." Ashley sighed, struggling to lift up her head. She gave up and let it roll backwards, against the wall.

"Well, you'd still have energy if you ate more." John said, putting his tools away in the shed. "You're practically skin and bones!"

"I eat." Ashley argued.

"You ate once yesterday, and that was a salad. You need to eat more meat!" John flexed his arms, where his muscles should have been. "It makes you stronger!"

"I don't like meat." Ashley forced herself to her feet.

"Well, you're going to learn to like it! I make one mean t-bone." John chuckled, following her inside.

After both of them had gotten cleaned up, Ashley joined John at the table for left-over spaghetti. She sat, quietly, opposite from him, staring at her food in thought. When she reached for the fork, John cleared his throat uncomfortably. Ashley looked up to see him folding his hands.

"Would you like to say grace, Ashley?" He asked. Ashley blinked and sat back in her chair.

"You mean, pray?"

"Sure. You want to?" John asked again. Ashley smirked.

_Pray! To God?! Are you kidding, Old Man?_ She thought. "Uh.. no, that's okay."

"All right, do you mind if I pray out loud? Then you can join in if you like."

"Um.. sure. I guess." She folded her hands and bowed her head.

"Dear Lord," John began. "First, I would like to thank You for this food and the means by how we get it. I thank You for blessing me with a productive farm and a wonderful family."

Ashley looked up. _Wonderful family?_

"I thank You for my granddaughter, and that she's able to be with me here today. I ask that You be with her throughout her life, and bless her. Keep her safe and help her to grow up strong both mentally and physically..."

Ashley didn't hear the rest of the prayer, as she was transfixed on his words from the previous sentences. _He's praying.. for me?_ Automatically, she looked to the ceiling. _He's praying.. to God... for me?_

"...And I pray all of this in Your name, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen." John looked up from his prayer to see Ashley staring at the ceiling. Wondering what she was looking at, he glanced up as well. "Ashley, you okay?" He asked.

Ashley at once snapped back into reality and she sunk down, into her seat. "Yeah. Fine."

"You sure?" John asked, twirling the spaghetti around his fork.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Ashley copied his motions. Just as he was about to take a bite, however, she spoke up, saying, "John... why did you pray for me?"

John just about choked on his noodles from the surprise of the question. "Why did I pray for you? Well.. I know you've been going through a rough time lately and-"

"You think that God actually listened?" She interrupted him. John blinked.

"Well, yes, of course. He cares about you."

Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "He what?"

"He cares about you." John repeated. "Just like He cares about me and, well, everyone else on the planet."

Ashley shot him an incredulous expression. "So.. you're saying.. that God cares about everyone. Including really bad people? Thieves? Murderers?" She asked, being half-sarcastic about the question. John nodded.

"Of course. God loves everyone and He's sad to see His children turn away."

Ashley looked confused and huffed her breath. "What about... Mom.. and Dad?" She asked this question a little quieter. "They were atheists. Did He love them?"

"Yes, Ashley. God loves them."

"_Loves?_ What do you mean _loves_? Mom and Dad are..." She paused for a moment. "Gone..."

"That doesn't matter." John assured her. "God still loves them, no matter where they are or who they are."

"Why?"

"Well.. I don't really know." John leaned back in his seat, propping his feet up on the table. Ashley wrinkled her nose at his smelly shoes. "All I know is that He does love us, that's why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us."

"And Jesus... He died because..?"

"Jesus died to free us from our sins. As long as we truly believe in Him, and want forgiven, Jesus forgives us. He gives us another chance."

_Another chance..._ Ashley was silent. John, thinking the conversation was over, went back to eating. But just as he was taking another bite, Ashley spoke up again saying, "What do you mean, _another chance_?"

John hurried up and swallowed his spaghetti this time. "I mean, God gives everyone a second chance. If we really want to turn away from our old lives and begin again, He helps us. He lets us begin anew and He's there for us. Jesus gives us hope.. hope for a better life, a life with Him."

Ashley contemplated this before standing up from the table. The grandfather clock in the living room slowly chimed "ten o' clock" as she thought through his words some more.

"Can I leave?" She asked suddenly. John blinked.

"But you haven't even touched your food!" He said.

"I'm not really hungry. Just tired." Ashley shrugged. John sighed.

"Well, I guess so."

"Thanks John. Good night!" She called quickly, scurrying into the living room and finally up the stairs to her bedroom.

John climbed slowly up the staircase, taking a small break at every second step. His knees were sore. When he made it to the top, the first thing that caught his eye was the beautiful painting of a white cross on the window in the back of the hall.

"Didn't that thing... break?" He asked himself. "I swear Sammy smashed that window with his bat." He scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Hm. Maybe not." He walked down the hallway, carrying a plate in his hands. "Ashley, I-" He paused when he reached the girl's bedroom door that was ajar.

"Uh... Dear God.." He heard her say. "I'm Ashley... heh.. of course, You probably already knew that."

John furrowed his eyebrows, listening to her. He was surprised that she was praying. She seemed so skeptical at dinner...

"Listen, God, I don't really know what I'm doing here. I've never exactly.. prayed before. But, apparently John- that is, my grandfather- uh... well, he really seems to believe in You, so I figured what the heck. I could give it a shot." She sighed, John could tell she was uncomfortable. "Well, I wanted to ask You something. Um.. You probably know about the things I've done.. the people I've hurt.. everything. But John said that You also give second chances. He said that's why Jesus died on the cross. So.. I was hoping, maybe.. maybe _I_ could have a second chance?"

John blinked and cocked an eyebrow.

"I know, I've done some pretty bad stuff, and believe me! I do feel bad about it... I thought maybe.. You turned away. My parents never believed in any... God, but recently, I've sort of thought about it. Maybe You do exist? If You do, could you-" She paused to gain back control her voice. "Possibly... give me another chance? All I want is hope, and I thought I didn't have any. Then, John was talking about You today... and I started to hope again. Just a second chance... just _one _more chance. That's all I need. If You really are up there, please God, help me out. I want to be a new.. a better person. This is a new town, no one knows me here. Please, let this be my chance. I want to have hope again..." She sniveled. "Uh.. in Your name, I guess.. Amen."

John stood outside her door, staring at the floor. He didn't know what she went through with her foster families before and what the court must have put her through. He doubted she'd ever tell him. Waiting a few minutes, he listened for a sound. Soon, he could hear her crawling into bed and he swung the door open.

"Knock knock." He grinned, coming into the room. Ashley blinked.

"I thought you said you couldn't get up the steps." She said, a little suspicious.

"I never said I couldn't... I said I don't." He chuckled and sat down on the bed beside her. "Too often, anyways. Here, I brought you somethin' to eat." He handed her the plate. There were grapes, cookies and cheese on it. "Your blood sugar's probably too low now that you didn't have dinner."

Ashley took the plate and looked at it a while. "John...?" She asked finally. John smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Ashley smiled sweetly. "For everything. For letting me live with you.. for talking to me... For everything."

"Aw, Squirt. You don't have to thank-" He paused when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He embraced the hug. "You're welcome."


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: PG13

Warnings: Minor language, some torture themes?

Chapter Four

_The road was dark, pitch-black. The moon shown fully above, not hidden by the surrounding clouds, but the light didn't seem to reach the stretch of highway. Bare trees on each side of the road loomed over the street, casting eerie shadows in the headlights of the passing vehicle. They looked as if they could reach out and grab anything, raking it into their grasp from the highway. In this creepy scenery, only one car drove down the street. Its headlights were mere specks of white light as the darkness blanketed over them, surrounding the lone vehicle in a thick, foggy shadow. The station wagon drove on for a while in this complete darkness, until another pair of headlights showed up on the opposite side of the road. A large truck sped at the small station wagon, swerving into the oncoming traffic lane. Suddenly the four lights collided and sounds of screeching tires and metal clashing filled the air._

"Mom, Dad! No!" Ashley shouted, waking herself up. She sat up quickly. Her breathing was shallow and panicky, her hair was matted to her forehead with sweat, and her hands were shaking. She leaned against the wall behind her bed and tried to calm down, telling herself it was only a dream. Eventually, her breathing went back to normal. She threw her legs over the side of her bed and stood to her feet, rubbing her forehead. The clock next to her read "Nine o' clock AM" and she wondered why her grandfather hadn't gotten her up early to help him with the animals. She threw her purple and blue pajamas off and pulled on her gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. She walked over to the dusty, old vanity across from her bed and began brushing her hair, looking at her reflection in the mirror. There were dark bags under her eyes and her face was clammy and pale, like always. She almost looked.. ghostly.

"Oh, Ashley!" Called John from at the bottom of the steps. Ashley put her brush down and walked out of her bedroom.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Come here! I have a surprise for you!" He said excitedly. Ashley cocked an eyebrow and hurried down the stairs, following him into the kitchen.

"What is it, Grandpa?" She asked. John blinked.

"What?"

"Huh?" Ashley answered. John blinked again.

"Did you just call me...?"

"Oh... yeah. I guess I did." Ashley grinned sheepishly. "You're okay with me calling you, Grandpa, right?" She asked. John grinned even wider.

"Well, of course!" He chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Now, back to that surprise for you..." He dug around in his back pocket for a moment. "Yesterday, you worked real hard out there, and I wanted to reward you. I know that you haven't exactly felt at home yet, and I want you to." He pulled out his wallet and flipped through it. "So, I thought your upstairs could use a little repair. Like I said before, I don't go up there too often, so I don't bother with decorating it." He handed her a plastic card. Ashley looked confused. "Since that's your little place up there, I wanted you to do it up however you want. You can use my credit card to get all your supplies and everything you'll need." He winked at her. "And because you've been so good for the past week since you've been here, get yourself something too."

"R-Really?!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Mmm hmm." John smiled. "Not once have you complained about helping me out or nothing. I think it's time for you to _start anew_."

Ashley froze. "What?"

"Oh, you know. This is your chance, Ashley. Go ahead. There's about a thousand dollars left open on that card, so you can have that to spend on whatever you want. Smart shopping will get you a lot of stuff!" He started humming happily to himself and walked away.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" She shouted after him. He chuckled.

Amity Park was a cute, little town with cute, little people and cute, little stores. There were some cute, little cars that drove down the cute, little road.

And then there was FentonWorks...

Ashley cocked her head at the massive building when she passed by. With tons of equipment on top, she wondered who exactly lived there. She didn't know she was about to find out.

"Aaaaaahhhh!!!!"

Ashley jumped out of the way of a girl running out of the house. Some sort of Frisbee-looking device was after her. The girl was about a year older than Ashley, with pretty, long, red hair that went down to her waist. She was wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans and was running around in circles with the metal disk chasing after her. Ashley blinked and opened her mouth to say something when two more people came running out. One was a tall man with an orange jumpsuit on, and a woman with a blue jumpsuit.

"Jack! Stop that thing!" The woman shouted. The man mumbled something to himself and began pressing all sorts of buttons on a remote he was holding.

"Maddie, it's not working!" He shouted back. The woman flipped her sun glasses and mask down, over her brown hair and gripped a bat that she had been holding.

"Don't worry, Jazz! Mommy's coming!" She ran after the girl, swinging the bat around in the air to try and hit the disk.

"Stupid gadget!" Jack shouted next, throwing the remote down. He ran up to Maddie and Jazz, running around behind them to try and grab the disk. Ashley blinked again.

"O-kay..." She said to herself, stumbling backwards, into someone.

"Hey!"

Ashley swiveled around to see a boy, about a year younger than her, with shaggy black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a simple, white t-shirt and jeans. "Oh.. sorry about that." Ashley said. The boy shrugged and smiled.

"Oh. Uh, no problem." He bent down and picked up the remote, popping the back of it open. Digging around in his pocket, he pulled out two batteries and snapped them in, shutting the device again. Then, he pressed the big, red button that read "off". Immediately, the flying disk died and crashed to the ground. "You forgot the batteries, Dad." He called. The man looked up and grinned sheepishly.

"Wow. How did you know that's what happened?" Ashley asked the boy. He shrugged again.

"Oh.. that's like, the third time this week something has gone on the fritz. I always check the batteries first." He dropped the remote in the grass and held out his hand. "By the way, my name's Danny. Danny Fenton."

"Ash-" Ashley paused for a moment, thinking over what she was going to say. "My name's A.J... A.J. Courman." She shook his hand.

"Oh, cool name. Abbreviations?"

"Yeah. Ashley Jenna equals A.J." She smiled. Danny smiled back.

He pointed to the three people in the street. His dad was poking the disk with a stick, his sister was crying, and his mother was hugging his sister. "That's my family. Jack, Maddie and Jazz Fenton." He rubbed the back of his neck. "They're a little strange..."

"What was that thing, anyways?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, just some gadget my parents made. They're ghost hunters. I think that was supposed to be the Fenton Anti-Ghost Eye."

"The whatty-what-what?" Ashley scratched her head.

"It's just some dumb name my dad gave it. It's supposed to be able to detect any ectoplasmic signature in anything.. but it keeps attacking Jazz..." He chuckled. Ashley snickered.

"Ghosts, huh?"

"Yeah, I know. It's probably the weirdest job ever.. with the weirdest people doing it."

"Oh, I don't think so." Ashley smiled. "I think it's cool."

Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well, people usually think it's dorky. They tease me about it."

"Tease you?" Ashley put her hands on her hips. "Why would they tease you about something so cool?"

Danny chuckled. "You're funny. Hey, I haven't seen you around town. Are you new here?" He asked. Ashley nodded.

"Yeah. I moved in with my grandpa about a mile away. He runs that little farm out there."

"Mr. Courman!" Danny grinned. "I knew I recognized your last name! Mr. Courman sells vegetables to my parents."

Ashley grinned. She was about to say something, when she was interrupted by two more kids walking up. One was a girl with long, black hair in a pony tail and the other was a boy with glasses.

"Hi Danny!" They said together. Danny waved.

"Hi Sam. Hi Tucker."

Ashley tilted her head. _Sam?_ That was her dad's name. She smiled at the newcomers and waved politely. "Hello."

"Oh! Tucker, Sam, this is A.J. She's new in town." Danny introduced. Sam smiled politely while Tucker walked up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders.

"Hi there. I'm Tucker. Tucker Foley." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. Ashley smirked.

"Nice to meet you, Foley." She grinned. Sam rolled her eyes, grabbed Tucker's arm and pulled him away from the girl.

"Sorry about that. Tucker can get a little carried away with girls..." She said. Ashley chuckled.

"Oh, it's fine. I have a boyfriend anyways." _I hope that works..._ She thought. Yeah right.. like _she_ would have a boyfriend. She looked up to see Tucker's expression fall at her words. "But..." She continued. "..maybe if we had met at another time.. another place..." She offered him a smile. Tucker perked up again and smiled back.

"Danny, you ready to go?" Sam asked. Danny nodded and looked back over at Ashley. "Hey, A.J. Tucker, Sam and me are all going to the Nasty Burger for lunch. You want to come?" He asked.

Ashley shook her head gently. "No thanks. I'm kind of busy right now. I'm sort of looking for something."

"Well, maybe we can help since you're new here." Sam said. "What are you looking for?"

Ashley cocked her head. "Well, I'm not really sure, exactly. But when I find it, I'll know it." She smiled to herself. "At least, I hope so." She giggled. "It was nice meeting you all and I hope we can hang out some time, again!" She smiled a good-bye and walked away.

"Listen kid, are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to buy something?" Asked the grumpy, old man at the register. A.J. sighed.

"I'm trying to calculate. With you talking, I can't do that. Then that means that I will take longer trying to calculate and the whole process begins again." She said irritably, not bothering to look at him. The old shopkeeper scrunched his nose in disgust at her.

"Damn teenagers." He mumbled.

A.J. ignored him this time and looked at the cans of paint in her hands. One was a darker blue, the other was a lighter blue. Both cost the same. In the shopping cart behind her, there were rollers, paint brushes and a bunch of other stuff having to do with interior decorating. "So.. if I get both of these.. and they each cost that... then that means the total will come up to.. that." She bit her lip. "Good, I'll still have a bunch left over." She put the cans in the buggy and walked up to the next colors. She held up a bright red paint can and a pretty, sea-weed green color. She smiled and put both in her cart.

Finally, when she was finished, she pushed the cart to the cash register and the grumpy, old man started checking it out.

"Got a big project going on, Missy?" He asked. A.J.'s eyes twitched. She hated being called that.

"Uh.. heh heh. Yeah. I'm re-vamping my house." She grinned and took the bags full of her stuff, restocking them in her cart. The pile of bags was so high, it was overflowing the edges of the cart. She handed the old man her grandfather's credit card. Meanwhile, a teenage boy, about A.J.'s age walked up to the cart. He had shaggy, red hair and freckles across his white cheeks. His bright blue eyes sparkled with an unusual happiness. He was wearing a t-shirt that had the store's logo on it.

"Mind if I help you carry this stuff out, Miss?" He asked. A.J. took the credit card back from the old man and looked up at the boy, blinking.

_You're awful young to be working here..._ She thought, and smiled. "Uh, no. That's okay. I can take it."

"No, I insist. Let me help." The boy gripped the handles of the cart and pushed. It didn't move. He pushed again. It still didn't move. "Wow.. that's heavy..." He cocked an eyebrow at the cart. A.J. chuckled and grinned.

"Thank you, _Sir._ But really, I can handle it." She grabbed the handle with one hand and started wheeling it towards the door. The boy and the old man looked at each other in disbelief and then back at A.J.

"Hey! Wait!"

A.J. turned around once she was out of the store to see the boy running out. "Yes?"

"How'd you do that?" He asked in a surprised tone. "You just took off with that thing! It had to weigh like.. a bazillion tons!"

A.J. smirked and shrugged. "I work out... A lot." She lied. She didn't want anymore questions asked, so she decided to change the subject. "I'm A.J." She introduced herself, holding her hand out. The boy blinked and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, A.J. I'm Jack..." He smiled. "So.. how are you going to get all that home? I don't see a car-"

A.J. grit her teeth. She was just going to carry it all home, but she couldn't tell him that. "My grandpa's picking me up in a few minutes."

"Oh. Okay." Jack said suspiciously. He narrowed his eyes. "Well, it's been nice meeting you." He tipped his baseball cap and A.J. bowed her head. Both parted to go their separate ways, but Jack stopped before he reached the store doors. He looked back at A.J. and his eyes started glowing a bright, neon blue. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he shook his head. "No way..." He whispered to himself, and ran back into the store.

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog! Cryin' all the time!" A.J. slid in her socks on the wooden floors of her bedroom, holding a paint brush up to her mouth to serve as a microphone. The radio behind her was playing Elvis' greatest hits for the anniversary of his death and she was singing loudly and quite off-key to it. "..And you ain't no friend of mine!" She giggled, swinging a paint roller onto her wall. It was almost sun down and she had already painted all four walls once. Now she was working on the second coat of the last wall in her room. Dark blue paint covered her skin and clothes from head to toe, along with red and green paint that she had used on the extra bedrooms. The room parallel to hers was now painted a bright red and was much smaller than her own. The closet was located right across from the door and when you opened it, a twin bed sprung out. That was about the only neat thing about the bedroom. A.J. had moved all of the furniture in each of the rooms out into the hallway with ease, and covered the wooden floors with the old sheets that were used to keep the dust off the furniture when she first had arrived.

Beside the red bedroom, there was another, bigger room. This bedroom, A.J. had painted an aqua-green. It had a small twin-sized bed in the corner, but no other special furniture. A.J. did manage to find, however, an old laundry chute that led down to the basement of the house, which had no clear entrance except for the crawl-space opening outside.

Across the hall from the green bedroom was a cute, little bathroom that was now painted light blue. A.J. had even decorated it with white paint over the blue, swirling it around to look like clouds. The sink was indented into the pretty, white marble counter top with an enormous mirror that stretched the length of the counter. The bath tub, located across from the sink, had pretty dark blue tile surrounding it, but it was lacking a decent shower curtain. Another old sheet made up for that. The toilet was also quite nice-looking for a toilet, as bright white as the sink and next to the bath tub. Finally, a door led from the bathroom into A.J.'s bedroom, where she was still dancing around, singing to the radio.

"One for the money, two for the show. Three to get ready and let's go go go!" She laughed, putting the paint roller down. "Ah. Done for today." She rubbed her forehead. "But I can't sleep in here. I think I might throw up." Her nose, being extremely sensitive, was burning with the smell of paint fumes. "I guess I'll sleep downstairs on the couch then." She shrugged, shut off the radio, grabbed her pajamas and headed out the door and down the stairs. She crept into the living room where her grandfather had fallen asleep in front of the television. A.J.'s eyes flashed when she saw what was on.

"In other news..." The reporter began. "In Cheyenne, Wyoming, police have still been unable to locate the creature that massacred Robert and Cynthia Smithson. The couple had taken a young girl, Ashley Courman, in as a foster daughter only one month before hand. The Cheyenne Police Department's head detective, Alex Walker, is still looking in on this case. He believes there is a link between this homicide and the ones last year." The reporter turned to her right. "And here to speak with us today is Detective Alex Walker, himself!"

A.J.'s jaw dropped when she saw her friend on the news. Her fists clenched.

"..thank you, Sandy." Walker began. "Yes, the Cheyenne Police believe that there are just too many unusual happenstances here. Although the killings all seem to have come from a wild animal, we are still looking into foul play."

"What about the girl, Ashley Courman?" The reporter asked. "Wasn't she with a previous foster family that was killed before this most recent incident?"

Walker nodded. "Yes, she was. But there's no evidence to suggest that she had anything to do with the murders. She's living safe and sound with her grandfather now."

"Hm, wow." The reporter turned back to the camera. "Interesting case you have going there, Detective-"

The old television screen fuzzed out and died. A.J. held the remote in her right hand, pointing it at the screen. Her hands were shaking and her breathing had quickened. "No..." She whispered. "They can't _still _be investigating that. I thought they closed the case!" She grit her teeth. "It couldn't be long before they find out-"

"Ashley?" John yawned and stretched on the recliner. "Is that you?"

A.J. gasped, her thoughts interrupted and she dropped the remote. She swiveled around to look at him. Thank goodness he hadn't seen any of that.

"Yeah, Grandpa. It's me." She put on a fake smile. "My room smells like paint, so I was going to sleep down here if that's okay."

John slowly pushed himself off of the chair and rubbed his eyes. "Fine with me. I must have fallen asleep with the television on again." He crept across the room. "Well, I'm headin' off to bed now. You be good."

A.J. nodded instinctively when he spoke, even though his back was turned to her. She glared back at the television set once he was gone. She shook the thoughts from her mind and walked to the closet next to the TV, pulling a blanket out. Then, she settled onto the comfy, old couch across the room from the staircase. The big window behind her was hidden behind curtains, so she pulled them to the side, looking out at the dark sky and the pretty, white stars that speckled the navy blue blanket. A crescent moon showed boldly, like a lighthouse for the sky. Its bright light shown down to the ground, lighting up the otherwise pitch-black farm land. A.J. sighed and covered up, rolling onto her side. The moon still twinkled out of the side of her eye, but she ignored it easily.

The more restful her body became, the more restless her mind was. Thoughts flew through her mind, pictures danced in front of her vision. She remembered Zachary and William. She hadn't heard from either of them for almost a year, and wondered what had happened since she left the pack. She wondered if William was even alive anymore.

"_Let this be a reminder to you, Ashley..."_ Someone else's voice ran across her memory. She winced and tried to tune it out. _"You will always know where this came from. You will always remember me."_ She closed her eyes tightly to try and rid her mind of the voice, but it still wouldn't work. Her brain was flickering images in front of her mind's eye now, memories she had tried to forget.

_A tall man with long, silver hair tied in a braid stood in front of her. His skin was white as snow, and his eyes as dark as night. He was wearing an odd outfit of a dark gray shirt that was torn in two at the front to show his white chest which was decorated in unusual, curly markings. His pants were black and flowing like a robe down at his feet. A black cape swirled around behind him, attached to his odd-looking top, and long, silver gloves and boots strapped up his arms and legs. He held a staff in one hand, with a strange silver symbol on top._

"Who are you?" A.J. asked quietly to herself. Her mind was caught in the memory, but her body was caught in the present.

"_I am a friend." Said the ghostly figure. "I'm here to help you."_

"Help me? But how?" A.J. wrapped her own arms around her stomach, suddenly feeling pain shooting through it. It contributed to her hallucination.

"_Let's just say, I have a 'Get Out of Death Free' card." The man smirked. A.J. could barely see fangs hanging below his upper lip. "You are Ashley Courman, yes?"_

"Yes. Who are you?" A.J. whispered again in her hypnotized state.

"_My name is Anubis."_

"Where am I?"

"_You are in a forest along the main highway that stretches across the state of Wyoming." Anubis replied. "Your vehicle just had a head-on collision with a drunk box-truck driver and your parents were killed instantly. You somehow managed to survive the crash and made your way to the side of the road, looking for assistance. But there was nobody nearby. So you passed out from loss of blood."_

"K-Killed?" A.J. whimpered. "My parents are..-"

"_Yes, there was nothing I could do to save them. But don't worry, Young One. They passed quickly. They felt no pain. You, on the other hand..." His smirk grew into a wry smile. "You are going to die slowly.. painfully."_

"Die? Then.. you must be..."

"_No, Young One. I am not the Grim Reaper. He is of my brethren, yes, but I am Anubis. I have come not to take you to your final resting place.. but to offer you life."_

"W-What do you mean?" Tears trickled down her cheeks.

_Anubis bent down on one knee to look her in the eye. "I can give you your life back if you so desire. Not only that, Young One.. but I can give you the gift of immortality." His eyes sparkled with fire._

"Immortality?.. Living forever?"

"_Yes, Ashley Courman. You could live forever. I only ask for one thing in return. A favor."_

"What kind of favor?"

_Anubis chuckled. "Nothing too important. Just, when I require your help, you will assist me."_

A.J. was silent for a few moments, her muscles relaxing. Her brain still played the memory in her mind's eye. "What do I need to do?" She asked finally, quietly to herself.

_Anubis' smile grew wide and wicked. He pulled something from his pocket and held it out. It was a scroll of paper. "Just sign on the dotted line, Young One."_

A.J. physically reached out to grab at nothing, copying the motions in her memory.

_As she unfolded the paper, she noticed blood trickling down her hand from a cut she'd received from the crash. Anubis pointed to the blood and then at the paper. A.J. wiped her hand on the paper, smearing blood on the contract. Anubis grabbed the scroll quickly and rolled it back up, tucking it into his pocket._

"_Very good, Young One." He stood back up. "Prepare yourself." He tapped the bottom of his staff to the ground and the silver symbol on top began swirling around. Wind picked up all around him and he pointed the silver symbol at Ashley._

A.J.'s fists clenched and her muscles tensed up in preparation.

_Suddenly, a dark purple light appeared at the end of the staff. It grew into a six-inch ball encompassed in purple-colored electricity. Simultaneously, the purple electricity shot from the end of the staff and smacked A.J. in the stomach, quickly spreading into her skin. Her body began convulsing as muscles restitched themselves, gashes were sealed, bones were reformed and wounds disappeared. She grit her teeth in agony until the electricity eradicated and the pain subsided. Her body lay still for a few moments until she began to get the feeling back into her fingers and toes. Slowly, she sat up and checked herself over. She felt great!_

"It.. worked?"

"_Of course it did, Young One." Anubis smiled again. "But that's not all. You wanted the power of immortality, all I gave you was the power to heal from any wound. You still need your immortality.. and I still need my bounty hunter." He tapped the end of his staff to the ground again. A green, swirling vortex opened up out of the air behind him. A.J.'s eyes widened._

"W-What? Bounty hunter?" She asked.

"_I told you I needed a favor." Anubis explained. "And no petty human could be a bounty hunter for me. I'm going to need a pet. Something I can command and look after. Something that doesn't have a strong will or a stubborn personality like a human being. Something that will submit to me..." Suddenly, a big, dark mass leapt out of the vortex behind him. A.J. could see it was a large, black wolf with glowing, red eyes. She scooted backwards, away from it, but it padded quickly up to her, drool dangling from its snarling snout._

"_I need a lycanthrope." Anubis grinned fully this time, showing his long fangs. "A werewolf."_

_The giant wolf snarled and leapt at A.J. She screamed and turned away. It chomped down onto her left arm and swiped her across the face with its claws. Blood trickled from the wolf's mouth on her arm and streaking pain shot down her spine. Her fists clenched and her legs kicked uncontrollably. She screamed out in pain and terror, her canine teeth suddenly growing into long, sharp fangs. Her ears pointed and her nails grew out into black claws._

_Finally, the wolf released its grasp on her and jumped away. Anubis waved his staff and the wolf disappeared into the vortex again. A.J. covered her bleeding, left arm with her right hand, tears running down her face._

"_Mmm... much better." Anubis chuckled. "The perfect hunter."_

_A.J. struggled to sit up, her teeth, claws, and ears returning to their normal length. Her shirt was ripped where the wolf had bit her, but incredibly, the wound was healing instantly. A long, crescent-shaped scratch ran down her left eye where the wolf had scratched her, but the wound had sealed and the blood was dried up._

"_Come here." Anubis commanded._

_Unwillingly, A.J. rose to her feet and walked forward, standing at attention in front of Anubis. Her face showed her fear. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were small. She was hyperventilating, but she couldn't force her body to get away. In fact, she couldn't even move._

_Anubis laughed. "Oh! I love this! Sit down." A.J. fell backwards, sitting on her rear. "Get back up!" She quickly stood to her feet again. Anubis chuckled. "Perfect. This is just what I need. A servant."_

"You mean a slave." A.J. whispered accusingly. She grit her teeth.

"_No, I mean a hired servant." Anubis narrowed his eyes. "You signed the contract. I didn't force you. It was your choice to do this." He raised his hand. "Now to seal the deal." He pressed two fingers to her forehead. Purple energy zapped into her head from his fingers, streaking through her body. She screamed again when the purple energy gathered in a ball at her heart. Anubis took his fingers away and pointed the silver symbol at the balled-up energy. It was rapidly sucked from her body into the staff and she fell to her knees. Anubis smiled and dusted off his staff._

"_There, it's done. There's no going back now... I own your soul." He laughed when she clutched her chest, coughing. It felt like a massive hole had been shredded through her heart, through her lungs. She couldn't get enough air._

_Another green vortex opened behind Anubis. "One day, I will require your help. When I do, I will seek you out. Until then, go on living your pathetic life. It's not like you have anyone to go to now. Oh, and don't try to kill yourself, Young One. It won't work. Remember, you're immortal now." He gripped his staff with both hands as she struggled to stand up again. Anubis pointed to the scar on her eye and the one on her arm. "Let this be a reminder to you, Ashley. You will always know where this came from. You will always remember me." The vortex encompassed him, and he disappeared..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings: **Strong religious elements; Minor suggestive themes

**Spoilers: **None

**Author's Notes: **Grim (this version), Anubis, Lucanthis, Veroni and Daegon © to OokamiManiakku/SuperCoolNinjaGrl/DarkRebelWolf.

**Pronunciations: **Anubis (A-noo-biss); Lucanthis (Loo-san-this); Veroni (V-ehr-oh-nay); Daegon (Day-gonn); Wrelic (R-ay-lick)

This chapter might be a little confusing, but it's meant to be that way. If you can't figure it out by reading it, Anubis, Grim, Veroni and Lucanthis are basically the "Keepers of The Dead", so to speak. Only, it's more like the "Keepers of Hell". Daegon is a god-king, but in no way the actual God (Jehovah). He is the king of the Wrelics (Hellish beings) and also known as Lucifer or Satan to people.

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Why he was ever called to a Conference, he didn't understand. It wasn't like he was someone important, like Veroni or Grim. He was just a simple Wrelic, one who didn't even have an important job. Although Grim constantly told him that watching over The Portal was one of the most important things in the Dead Realm, Anubis hardly believed it.

What was so important about watching souls cross over for judgment? What would happen if he wasn't there? Maybe... a traffic jam? He'd have to pull a few screaming, confused souls through by hand? Whoopie. Real party there.

"Are you prepared?" Lucanthis asked, stepping into the room and out of the shadows. Okay, so it was more like a void than a room. A dark area that was not heliocentric, yet seemed to have its own eerie lighting originating from who-knew-where. Anubis didn't bother to turn towards the Hellish being and instead kept brooding off into the darkness.

"I am always prepared." He snapped. "It is your mate that constantly makes us late to these things."

"She is your sister before she is my mate." Lucanthis answered calmly. His spiky onyx hair seemed to shine even in the dim light. It highly contrasted Anubis' own long, snow-white hair that was braided down his back.

"A marital tie is stronger than a blood tie." Anubis turned towards him, coal-black eyes narrowed and glaring.

But Lucanthis just brushed his look away apathetically. "Perhaps, but seniority counts as well." He smiled, showing a set of razor-sharp teeth. "And she's been your sister far longer than my wife." And with that, he vanished from sight, leaving Anubis to brood some more.

Why did Grim even bother dragging him along to these things? Nothing was ever about him, no important matter having to do with his reign. He supposed his dear brother just wished to make Daegon happy, that perhaps the god-king would spare some of the lives that the Reaper was forced to take.

Anubis smirked at the thought. Why make someone do something they didn't want to if there was another candidate willing to do it? But Daegon would never put Anubis in that position. He'd never give him anything _important._

What was worse was the fact that his brother, The Grim Reaper, was a simple twelve-year old. Or at least, he looked that way. Being a Wrelic, he was several thousand years old, but he had the appearance of a twelve-year old human child. It disgusted Anubis. Why did he have to follow a child's commands? It was rather embarrassing and extremely annoying.

"Good morning, Anubis." Came a new voice. Anubis didn't bother to turn and greet Grim and instead just grunted as his hello.

Grim simply glided over to his younger- yet taller- sibling and smiled. In his dark grey hooded robe, even his smile was difficult to see. The Wrelic lifted his hood and removed it so his cherubic face could be seen. Brown hair- perfectly human in appearance- on his head and big, blue eyes that held a hint of playfulness. Freckles sprinkled across his abnormally pale skin.

"I said, good morning, Anubis." He said again, in no way angry.

Anubis looked down at his elder brother. He was in no way the Grim Reaper that the Skinwalkers feared. No skeletal outside, no crimson, glowing eyes. Not even a loomingly tall frame. And yet, inside this small body held so much power, so much authority.

"There is no morning here, Dear Brother." Anubis replied, smiling faintly. "Don't tell me you've forgotten in your old age."

"Age is nothing." Grim replied, a huge grin spread across his face. He gripped the long, black staff in his hand tighter. "A mere measurement of time that humans use because they feel they must label everything they discover." He chuckled. "Are you ready to depart, then?"

"Indeed."

"Very good. I will summon the others." Grim said. Anubis held his hands to his ears and covered them. Sticking two fingers into his mouth, Grim let out a big, long and very sharp whistle. Anubis winced- the sound still hurt even with his ears plugged.

Two clouds of shadow materialized in front of Grim and Anubis, each swirling pillar growing to about six feet and then dissipating to reveal two more Hellish beings.

Lucanthis, with his spiky, onyx hair and black eyes stood with his arms crossed. Dozens of intricate, swirling black marks covered his dark skin from head to toe.

The other being, Veroni, was known as the Queen of The Damned. The Wrelic was thin and lithe, like a jungle cat. Her long, blood-red hair matched the color of her burning irises. Her face- white as snow- adorned crimson-colored lips that matched the color of her nails. Her weapon of choice was an enchanted leather whip that wrapped around her torso like a sash. As well as being the Queen of The Damned, Veroni was also known as the Queen of Seduction for her looks.

"Must you call us with that?" Veroni snapped.

Grim smiled softly. "If you had a cell phone, then perhaps I would use that."

Lucanthis and Anubis couldn't help uttering a laugh. Cell phones were infernal devices that Skinwalkers used. They often caused much irritation and strife among their kind. One of the few things Anubis enjoyed about Earth was watching those pathetic mortals get worked up over things that they created. Insolent beings.

Veroni glared at her elder brother and then looked away.

Grim raised his staff and then tapped the end lightly on the ground.

_Shing!_

A shiny, silver blade popped out the top of the staff, stained crimson toward the point. Grim raised his scythe and brought it crashing down into the ground. A crack formed in the murky darkness and soon there was a hole torn in the dimension.

"Ladies first." He said. As she leapt into the hole, Veroni sent another dragon-glare at Grim. After her came Lucanthis and Anubis. When Grim finally followed, the hole sealed itself up in the Dead Realm.

"This way." A young woman with long, blond hair braided down her back and white skin led the group down a long, mideivel-looking corridor. "Daegon has been expecting you." The Guide said.

Anubis, who purposely stationed himself at the head of the group, only grunted at the ghost and then walked through the massive oak doors. The others followed along with Grim taking up the rear.

"Thank you." He said to the Guide as he entered the spherical room.

Towering above the group was a structure that resembled a Greek coliseum. Hundreds of theater-style seats were sitting on every inch of the circular walls. At the back of the room was a tall, oak throne. And on that throne sat Daegon.

The god-king was too horrible, too vile for anyone to lay eyes on. Any being that saw his true form would burn up where they stood and cease to exist even in the afterlife. To prevent this, Daegon kept himself cloaked in a human-looking body. He was tall, sleek and slender. His hair, colored like fire, was spiked into every direction. Two dark, coal eyes stared out from their sitting place just above his pointed nose. Ears, sharp and pointed, stationed at the sides of his head were positioned behind a set of red, curled horns that pierced his temples. His outfit was the color of blood and his cape, blacker than night. He looked much like a demonic Caesar of ancient Greece. Brown, leather bands wrapped around his arms and clawed hands. Brown, leather boots adorned his feet and razor-sharp teeth along with a forked tongue were visible when he spoke.

"Welcome, Brethren." His voice- something that would kill a human upon hearing it- echoed throughout the room.

"Hello, Daegon." Grim smiled softly. Lucanthis and Veroni knelt onto one knee out of respect. Anubis bowed at the waist, grumbling as he did so.

"I see you have not lost your attitude, Anubis." The god-king sneered. "Haven't I told you that will get you into trouble?"

"Why would I avoid something I enjoy so?" Anubis replied, grinning. Daegon laughed fully and heartily, a booming sound like thunder.

"All right, I suppose we should get down to business now." He said, motioning to the others. Chairs materialized for the group to sit down on.

Grim looked around the room. "Where are The Others?" He asked.

Daegon crossed his arms. "The Others are not coming."He said. Grim looked at him, confused. "This is a matter pertaining only to the Osiris Demension. Particularly, Earth." Daegon stood up, walking forward with his hands folded behind his back. "The Others have no say in this matter."

Anubis glanced around. Veroni and Lucanthis were looking down, averting Daegon's eyes out of fear. Grim, however, was listening intently, focused only on his king.

"The population is exceeding its maximum limit." Daegon spoke loudly, with authority.

"The population of what?" inquired Grim.

"The Skinwalkers."

"Humans?"

Daegon stopped pacing and glared at Grim. "Why do you insist on calling those wretched creatures that pet name of yours?" He hissed.

Anubis cocked an eyebrow but stayed silent.

Grim smiled. "Because that is what they are. Those so-called 'wretched creatures' are The Great One's greatest creation." He said confidently. "Our brethren have found a new nickname for the species. Not vice versa."

Daegon growled but pushed the matter no further. Grim knew that even if the god-king didn't agree, there was no way he would question The Great One. The Creator's authority was the highest in the known and unknown universe, He had the power to strike down or raise up anyone.

"Continuing," Daegon began, spitting the word to show his frustration. "The population is growing, birth rates are up and death rates are down."

"Is that a bad thing?" Grim asked, frowning.

"Grim, I know as well as you that you pity those... _humans._ Have you not been keeping up on the Soul Reaping?"

"Of course, my lord." Grim answered. "Just as you have instructed."

"I believe it is..." Lucanthis began, glancing back and forth between Grim and Daegon to see if it was a good time to speak. "That... the Ski- er.. the _humans_ have become more intelligent. They have found ways of abolishing our methods of disease."

"True, that is something they have done. Disease has little effect on people when looking in retrospect." Grim agreed.

"So what?!" Anubis spoke up. "In the next few years they'll just blow their own brains out with a new radioactive bomb or something!" He shouted. "If you are saying Skinwalkers are intelligent beings, Lucanthis, you are very wrong. I watch over The Portal. Hundreds of souls come through every second. The dead are many."

"But not as many as the living." Daegon replied, sitting back down on his throne. "And that was not everyone I was speaking of."

All four ghosts looked back up at their king.

"I am also speaking of the other beings. The ones that are not human, but cannot be classified as animal either. The In-humans."

"In-humans, my lord?" Grim asked. Daegon nodded, more to himself than to anyone.

"They call themselves things like... vampires, ghosts, demons and the like." He said. "Even those "humans" which possess such supernatural powers that I don't even know whether to classify them as human or not.." Daegon continued. "Their numbers are rising. Things are beginning to become unbalanced."

"But, my lord," Grim replied. "The Great One made the Earth is big enough to hold-"

"Enough!" Daegon raised his hand. Grim immediately stopped talking. "The Others are keeping up on their dimensions. You four are not."

"That's bull-"

"I said, enough!" Daegon growled at a defiant Anubis. Said ghost sat back down in his chair. "Your quota has risen five percent a year, Grim."

The boy's eyes widened. "Five percent? That's a thousand more souls!"

"I realize that." Daegon grinned wickedly. "I have given you your assignment. You are dismissed." As the god-king turned away from them, he was taken up in a pillar of shadow and vanished.

"How are we supposed to fulfill this new quota without murdering?" Lucanthis asked, arms crossed. Veroni smirked, snapping her whip in the air.

"I don't mind murder..." She chuckled.

Grim ignored her, pacing around impatiently in front of the two back in front of his place of residence: a castle surrounded by a graveyard.

"Veroni, you are murdering no one." He said.

Anubis, propped up against a dead tree, smirked. "What about me?" He asked. Grim looked up at him, an eyebrow arched. "I know, Dear Brother, that we Wrelics are not allowed to meddle with _living _human affairs..." He kicked off of the tree and sauntered forward. "But... what about my Bounty Hunters?"

Grim looked at him sadly. "You mean the girl?"

"I mean each one that I have." Anubis replied. "I have only three at the moment, yes, but when another opportunity arises, I will take it." He smiled. "And yes, I am speaking of Ashley Courman as well as the other two."

"You are going to force a fifteen-year old child to commit murder by turning her into a monster that she was not intended to be?" Grim asked, glaring at his brother with arms crossed.

Anubis snorted and shook his head. "It was her choice whether to live or die."

"She was eight."

"She was intelligent." Anubis argued. "Still is, the little, stubborn fool. And she commits murder every month."

"That's different." Grim snapped.

"How so?" Anubis shouted back. Grim's jaw tightened but he remained silent.

Anubis smirked. "Exactly. It's not."

"Because she fights." Grim said quietly, referring to Anubis' question. "She has a will. A strong soul. If you choose to do this, Anubis, make her kill more than normally, she will cease to be the person she is now." He looked up at his brother, eyes fierce. "And that would be controlling her. Which you have no authority to do."

"Then how do you propose we complete Daegon's assignment?!" Veroni snapped, her eyes glowing. "If even Anubis can't use his pathetic pets-"

"Silence!" Grim shouted. No one spoke. The boy messaged his temples with his hands and sighed reluctantly. "Anubis... you have my permission to use her." He said.

Anubis grinned.

"However," Grim continued. "You may only use her on your Full Moon nights."

"How is that any different?" Anubis growled.

Grim sighed. "You now have control when the sun touches the Earth in the evening until it touches the Earth in the morning to kill as many as need be."

Anubis contemplated this for a moment. "From dusk til dawn..." He nodded. "Fine. It's an accord." He chuckled darkly.

Grim took a few steps away from his siblings, replacing his hood over his face in his sadness. Only his glowing, blue eyes were visible in the shadow of the hood. Grim took his staff with one hand and let out another, long sigh. "Now... if you'll excuse me..." He bowed his head to each of his siblings out of respect. "I have many more dying people to visit." And with that, he vanished in a shadowy cloud.


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings:** Minor language; Intense themes

**Spoilers: **Mystery Meat

**Author's Notes: **None at the moment

Chapter Six

"_...Police have informed our news crew that these strange phenomena appear to be bear attacks. Some animal experts say it is possible that the bears living in the northern region of the state are moving south. Why, they can't explain. Rangers have been stationed around the city limits and will shoot anything on-sight to prevent these human casualties..."_

A.J. tightened her fists until her knuckles went white. What had changed in the last year? Nothing. So why were so many more people dying? Anubis usually just had one or two victims on his hit list, but why were there suddenly so many? And why was she having a harder time fighting him?

She covered her tear-streaked face with her hands and slid down the bathroom wall until she was sitting on the floor. The door had been bolted shut with three padlocks and a chair shoved under the handle. Yet, somehow she'd gotten out last night. The window behind her was broken, the boards she had nailed up were lying in splinters on the ground. She was surprised she made the two-story jump without injury. Of course, being a werewolf, you didn't get broken bones very often.

She stood up, looking into the long mirror opposite her. Skin still white as snow, hair hanging down around her face in unbrushed, oily clumps. Clothes dirty and ripped. She was a mess. Her eerie, green eyes were burning with defiance, with the will to fight. But her body wanted to give up.

A.J.'s half-ripped off tank top revealed her left arm where the reminder resided. The two, red bite marks where Anubis' demon pet chomped into her and spread its venom. Her hands began to tremble.

Images flickered in and out of her mind's eye. Screaming people, blood, those in-human, black eyes commanding her to kill. All those victims, those innocent people.

Tears threatened to spill over again, but her stubborness made her push them away. She was not going to cry. That's what he wanted. He was watching her, always watching her. Waiting for her spirit to break. She wasn't going to let it.

A.J. growled, leaning over the sink and turning on the faucets. She would wash up, lock the memories away in the back of her mind and go about her day. Just like she did every month. Just like she'd done for years. No one would ever figure out it was her, that was one thing Anubis was good for. He never let his own butt get caught and that meant he wasn't going to let her get caught.

A.J. splashed her face with the water, but it wasn't enough. She didn't feel clean. Of course, she doubted she would ever feel clean again. Stripping off her dirty, torn clothes, the wolfa jumped into the shower, turning the faucet all the way to hot.

Soon, the water was so scalding that it hurt. She wanted this. This was the closest thing she could get to clean. Suffering the scorching, cleansing heat wouldn't kill her. In fact, if it injured her at all her abundant supply of anti-bodies would just heal up the damage within seconds.

A.J. jumped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. Walking into her room, she was reminded of her new life. Her new residence, her new family, her new friends. She had promised herself things were going to change. She changed everything about herself. Her attitude, her clothing style... even her name was different now. She was no longer the Ashley Courman that Anubis had tricked so many years ago... She was A.J. Courman, defiant teenager that was going to beat this thing!

Sadly, the thought only seemed to make her depression worse. She threw her towel down and pulled on her jeans and red long-sleeve T-shirt. Looking at herself in the mirror, she decided that's all she was going to do today. A.J. put on her old sneakers, the comfortable white ones, and didn't bother drying her soaking, wet hair.

She walked down the stairs quietly, until she was greeted by her overly-enthusiastic grandfather, the man she'd been living with for the past year and some-months.

"Whatcha doin', Squirt?" He asked.

A.J. didn't bother looking down at her severely-shorter-than-her-grandfather and instead looked away. "Going to take a walk."

John seemed to notice the change in A.J., because he remained quiet for a few seconds. "Well, what am I supposed to do with yer comp'ny?"

A.J. looked up, confused. "Company?" She asked.

"Yeah... that ther Fenton kid?" John snapped his fingers, trying to remember the boy's name.

"Danny's here?" A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"Darn tootin. He's been waitin' all morning just to talk to ya." John chuckled. A.J. smiled faintly before walking into the kitchen.

"A.J.! Oh..." Danny Fenton, a fourteen-year old boy with floppy, black hair and big blue eyes stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in. "You don't... look so good."

"Thanks..." A.J. mumbled. Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry... guess you didn't need to hear that."

A.J. shook her head, dismissing it. "What's up, Fenton?" She asked, attempting to inject a lighter tone into the conversation... and failing.

"Well... I just came by to see how you were doing." Danny put an inflection on the last word. A.J. glanced back at her grandfather and then walked towards the door.

"Why don't we talk outside?" She offered. Danny nodded and followed the wolfa outside.

The two kids started down A.J.'s insanely long driveway, away from the house.

"Last night was a full moon." Danny said quietly, staring at the ground. A.J. nodded silently. Since Danny's "accident" three months ago with his parents' Ghost Portal- a gateway that was supposed to lead to another dimension- A.J. had revealed her secret to him and his two best friends, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson.

"I tried looking for you. Tucker and Sam helped too." He continued. "But none of us could find you and it was just our luck that Skulker showed up." He rubbed his arm where a decent-sized bruise was. "He's got a new toy too..."

"I wasn't in the city." A.J. said quietly, looking down so far at the ground that her face was hidden by her fallen hair. "At least, I don't think so. I can only remember glimpses..."

It was quiet for a few moments before Danny dared to ask, "How many?"

A.J. took a shuddering breath. "Seven."

Danny's eyes widened and he stopped walking, grabbing A.J. by the arm to stop her as well. "Seven?!"

"That's only the ones I can remember." A.J.'s voice was shaky. "But... it came early this time. The change, I mean. As soon as the sun started setting... it hit me. Hard too. I couldn't fight it." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"I thought it only happened during the night?" Danny said.

"Me too. Guess I'm an exception." She sneered. He frowned.

"I'll be there next time, A.J. To stop you. I won't let you-"

"It's not your freaking job!" A.J. cried suddenly. Danny took a step backwards. "You shouldn't have to babysit a damn werewolf!" She shouted.

Danny's fists clenched. "Listen, Courman." He snapped chasteningly. "I don't know where you've been for the last three months, but I'm apparently part-ghost now." He crossed his arms. "And with great power comes great responsibility."

A.J. smirked. "You got that from Spiderman."

Danny smiled. "Even so..." He said. "It's become my job to keep this city from mass panic and chaos caused by evil beings all the time. What's keeping you at arm's length going to hurt?"

"Evil _ghost_ beings." A.J. rhetorted. "Caused by your own parents' ignorance. No offence."

"None taken."

"But it's not your- or any of your family members'- fault that a rogue lycanthrope is attacking the surrounding area."

Danny put a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly. "I never said it was an obligation." He said. "I'm helping a friend out."

A.J. looked up at him and smiled softly. "Thanks Danny."

"No problem." He shrugged. "Now... Sam and Tucker want to meet at the Nasty Burger for lunch, wanna come?"

A.J. looked pointedly at him.

"Oh. Right." Danny bit his lip. "You've gone "vegetarian", right? Well... they have french fries there. Sam's going."

A.J. chuckled lightly. "No thanks."

Danny shrugged. "All righty then. Tucker will be disappointed." He said teasingly. Two rings of white light extended from his middle outwards transforming him into his alter ego- Danny Phantom.

A.J. laughed at the white-haired boy. "He'll just have to get over it." She said. He smiled and with a last good-bye, flew off into the morning sky. 

A.J. took off running. John was taking care of the farm today and Danny was off with Tucker and Sam. No one would be looking for her, no one would worry about her for a long while. As she reached the edge of the woods, far away from her house, the girl pulled off her shirt as black fur began to sprout from every pore. Holding her shirt in her mouth, she got rid of her jeans next just as the tail appeared. A snout formed, making more room in her mouth to hold both items of clothing. A.J.'s spine cracked, her ribs extended, breaking and re-stitching themselves. Muscles rippled and tore then melted and reformed. Soon, a black wolf with unnatural neon-blue highlights in her fur was running where A.J. had been just moments before.

She was headed for the clearing. The one place she loved to be when she hated everything else. Throwing her clothes aside at the edge of the clearing, A.J. padded into the center of the long blades of grass and let her tongue loll, panting. Her tail wagged back and forth happily. The sun shone brightly over the tree-tops. It cast beautiful shadows of yellow and green-colored leaves. Everything seemed to sparkle in this place.

A.J. sat down, looking meaningfully at an oak tree. It towered high above most of the trees in this place and was severely scarred towards the base with animal markings. A.J. lowered herself in the grass, ears pressed against her head to hide herself from view. She waited for the opportune moment.

Suddenly, with a burst of in-human speed, she raced towards the tree. When she was only four feet from it, she pushed off the ground as hard as she could, holding her paws out towards the tree. All four limbs met the bark about seven feet above the ground and she raked the region with her claws before falling back to Earth. The wolf shook off the dirt from the ground and looked at the damage. Her most recent claw mark was several inches higher than the last. That meant she was getting better, jumping higher, running faster. She was getting more control.

A.J. smiled and trotted back to the center of the opening, where she stopped abruptly. Her lithe figure stood there, one paw raised, eyes narrowed. Raising her head just ever-so-slightly, A.J. took in a big wiff of the air around her. Trees, flowers, squirrells... Nothing out of the ordinary except...

The wolf about-faced and stood feet spread apart, growling at the new-comer. Her fur raised on her hackles threateningly and her tail swished about aggressively.

"Holy crap!" The boy cried.


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings:** Minor language; Minor suggestive themes

**Spoilers: **None

**Author's Notes:** Dakota, A.J. and Viper are © OokamiManiakku on Also, I made up the Paralysis Jutsu. xD I have no idea if that's a real jutsu or not.

Chapter Seven

A.J.'s ears perked at the sound of the boy's voice, but she didn't let her guard down. This was no time to trust strangers, she mused.

"An excellent specimen indeed!" The boy scratched something down on what looked like a notepad, taking a few steps toward her. A.J., in turn, walked backwards. The boy looked up. He had the brightest, violet eyes that A.J. had ever seen. His hair was spiky and equally as purple, gelled to stick out in every direction. "Hey, calm down, would ya?" The boy asked. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Pretty Girl." He knelt down onto his knees and held out his hand.

A.J. just growled louder. She hated it when people treated her like a real dog, even though they didn't know any better from looking at her.

"Wow, check out those markings in your fur! Incredible!" The boy scribbled something else down. A.J. realized that he was sketching her. She stopped growling and arched an eyebrow, or... at least she tried to.

"I've never seen a blue wolf. Even where I come from." The boy chuckled. He didn't look like the type to be out in the sunlit forest sketching a wild animal. He was drenched in black. Black shirt, black, baggy pants, black shoes. He even had black leather bands around his wrists that turned into cut-off gloves. The only thing on his outfit that wasn't black were the shimmering, silver chains wrapped around his legs. They glistened in the sunlight, hurting A.J.'s eyes.

"That's it. Don't be afraid." The boy said. A.J. realized that he was several feet closer now, his fingers almost touching her muzzle. She growled, snapped at him warningly and backed away.

"Hmm..." He didn't seem scared. He didn't even flinch when she snapped. "Here, will this help?" He asked, digging something out of his pocket. A granola bar. He opened it up and held it out for A.J. to sniff.

She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Hon." The boy pleaded. "I just wanna draw you, that's all. I'm not a hunter, I swear." He stood up, and pulled his pockets inside-out to show he wasn't hiding anything. "At least... not on this planet." He chuckled again. A.J. narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air around him. It smelled funny. Not like other humans smelled, she decided.

The wolf took a step forward cautiously. The boy smiled widely and sat back down on the ground, grabbing his notepad again. "That's it. I won't hurt you." He said over and over again, his voice soothing and relaxed.

A.J. smiled inside (she couldn't do it physically as a wolf) and sat down a few feet in front of him.

As he sketched more and more pictures of her, the boy babbled on about his life. Family, friends, school work, etc. She found that she liked posing for him and thought it was funny how interested he was with everything she did. It was like he'd never seen a dog before...

"By the way, the name's Dakota." He said as he finished another drawing. Then he shrugged and laughed. "I don't know why you'd want to know that, though."

_Dakota..._ A.J. thought. How she wanted to tell him her name. But she couldn't, not in this form. And what would he do if he saw a wolf shift into a human? A naked human at that. A.J. blushed and pushed the thought away.

"Sorry I've been rambling." Dakota apologized, oblivious to A.J.'s thoughts. "It's just, I don't talk a lot to people. At least, I don't like to." He smiled thoughtfully, shading in one of the pictures. "Humans don't really understand me."

_Humans? _A.J. thought. That was a weird way to say "people". Humans didn't usually call themselves "humans" unless they were distinguishing between themselves and animals or something.

"Oh darn it." Dakota muttered, fiddling with something on his wrist. A watch?

A.J.'s ears pressed against her head when a loud beeping came from the device on his wrist. She blinked, trying to focus her vision. Was he... disappearing? Dakota's figure was becoming blurry, like a TV that was constantly losing its signal. She rubbed her eyes on her paws and looked back up.

Where Dakota had been just seconds ago, now sat another creature. She felt her jaw drop in shock. He wasn't an animal... he wasn't human. What was he? Purple and scaly with big, black eyes and four arms. Green plates started at his head and ran along his spine to his pointy, lizard-like tail behind him. The creature was still messing around with the device on one of his arms, as the other two were tied up behind his back.

A.J. leapt to her feet, her fur immediately rising and her tail puffing out in an intimidated fashion. She growled again, backing away.

"Huh? Wait!" The creature that had been Dakota reached out to her, but A.J. avoided his now-longer-arm. "Please, don't go!"

_Why? So you can take me back to your home planet to be experimented on or something?!_ A.J. thought, snarling viciously.

"I'm not done drawing you!" The creature stood up, dropping his notepad. "I know... I must look a little scary, huh?"

_Butt-ugly is more like it..._

"Come on, Wolfy." He was inches away from her again within seconds. A.J., surprised by how fast he was, didn't react when he touched her muzzle with his scaly fingers. Once she realized what he was doing, she snapped at him... and caught flesh. Or... whatever his skin was.

But no blood came out. Her fangs sunk into his skin, like she was biting into a sponge. In fact, A.J. realized that the hand she bit into tasted more like a potato filled with a jelly-substance than a hand.

Dakota frowned. "Uh... that's my hand. Can you let go?" He asked. A.J. spat the foul-tasting skin out of her mouth and shook her head. Dakota took his hand back and looked at the damage. Two puncture-wounds were in the fleshy part of his hand. He put his thumb to his mouth and blew. The dents popped back out and he looked the same as before.

Disgusted and shell-shocked, A.J. let her jaw sag open again. Dakota chuckled.

"Sorry, Pup. My outer-layer is ten times stronger than diamonds. I'm practically indestructible... at least, to Earthlings." He shrugged. "Now, I said I'm not finished."

_Well I am!_ A.J. thought. She turned to run away until she was pulled back by her tail. The wolf yelped and spun around, snapping at him again. She clawed at his long arms, still doing no damage.

Dakota laughed. "Hey! That tickles!" He teased. She growled in irritation and managed to pull herself free of his grip. While he was busy laughing, she shoulder-rammed him in the stomach, sending him sprawling backwards a few feet. A.J. smirked.

"Ouch! Hey!" Dakota complained, sitting up and rubbing his head. "That wasn't fair. I wasn't ready." He grinned, revealing a row of dagger-like teeth. His two fore-arms reached behind him and untied the other two arms. The alien stood low, crouching. "Now I'm ready."

Before she could even blink, he was suddenly next to her, grabbing her by the scruff with one of his arms, holding her back legs with two more and had one on his hip in a very human-like posture... which looked really weird. "So, you wanna play fight?" He smiled and tossed her behind him.

_Shit! _A.J. cursed, flailing about in the air. She managed to right herself just before she hit the ground, receiving very minor wounds. She was back up and running at him before she could feel the pain of the impact, however. Dakota readied himself for another shoulder-ram, but A.J. didn't take that route. She pushed her paws into the dirt as far as she could, slowing herself to an abrupt stop in front of him, and sending a wave of dirt into his face. Dakota cursed and scrambled to wipe the dirt off while A.J. maneuvered around him and kicked his feet out from under him. The alien yelped as he hit the ground.

A.J. trotted in front of him, smiling with her tongue lolling victoriously. The purple creature growled.

"Oh, it's not over yet, Wolf!" He shouted, leaping to his feet and at the same time, scooping A.J. up into his four arms. He held her upside-down by her tail.

_Gaaaaah!!! OOOOOWWWWW!!!! _A.J. whimpered, struggling to get free. He raised her up, ready to throw her into the ground when-

"**Ninja art: Paralysis Justu!!"**

Dakota froze at the words, and so did A.J. She realized that she couldn't move. At all.

"Dakota Krader! What do you think you're doing?!" A female voice cried. A.J. managed to swivel her head just barely, able to see a new figure standing there.

It was a short girl with long, blond hair. She had darker skin and almond-shaped, brown eyes. Japanese, perhaps? She was wearing the most unusual outfit: a yellow and black-striped T-shirt with dark green sleeves and jean shorts.

_What the-? _A.J. thought.

"V-Viper..." Dakota managed to get out of his paralyzed lips.

"What have I told you about picking fights like that?" The girl shook her head. "You know what'll happen if anybody saw you like that?"

He sighed frustratedly.

Viper grinned. "Oh yeah." She made some sort of sign with her hands and then said, "Release."

Immediately, A.J. fell to the Earth as Dakota fell over too. She got up and shook her body, getting rid of the dirt.

"Ouch..." Dakota sat up, rubbing his head with one hand while two more fiddled with the watch on the fourth arm. When the blurriness of his image started again. Two of the hands tied themselves back up behind his back. In a flash of light, he was the human-looking boy from before. "You didn't have to use that on me!" He complained.

The girl smiled. "I know. But I wanted to." She turned to A.J. "I'm sorry my brother's such a meanie." She patted the wolf on the head. "You can run along now."

_Brother?_ A.J.'s eyes twitched. There was another alien? She padded away from the two, over to where her clothes lay in a pile.

"Mom says she wants you home for lunch. Grandma's getting cranky." Viper said, crossing her arms. Dakota stood back up, brushing himself off.

_Mom? Grandma?! There's a whole family of them! _A.J. blinked. _This town is so weird..._

Viper looked over and cocked her head at the wolf watching them curiously. "Hey... what's that?" She asked, narrowing her eyes on A.J.

_What's what? _A.J. looked all around her to see what the girl was talking about.

"What's what?" Dakota asked, picking up his notepad.

"That..." Viper pointed at A.J. "Didn't that wolf have a tail just a minute ago? Or did you yank it off?" She asked hotly. Dakota rolled his eyes and walked over to his sister, narrowing his eyes on the wolf a few yards away.

"I didn't yank her tail off..." He grumbled.

_What? _A.J. asked herself. _What are they talking about?_ She looked behind her and saw... that her tail had disappeared. The wolf leapt to her feet and cursed loudly, although it came out as a bark.

"Hey... I think she's hurt. Maybe we should help her." Viper said, walking closer. Dakota grabbed her by the arm.

"She bit me earlier. You're actually human, so it'll hurt you." He said.

_Human? _A.J. couldn't help wondering, while panicking about her tail. She could feel the tingly sensation back in her bones. Her time as a wolf was up. She needed to go, now.

"She's hurt!" Viper insisted, pulling free of Dakota's grip. She ran up to A.J. while the wolf collected her clothes in her mouth. "Hey! Wolf! Stop!" Viper shouted.

A.J. took one look at Viper and then started off, until she realized her front paws were now just furry hands.

_Crap! _She cursed, but Viper was in front of her now.

"Don't run away. I'll help you!" Viper said cheerfully, something that was starting to grate on A.J.'s nerves. She growled in warning at the girl, but Viper didn't pay any attention. She reached out to touch A.J. The wolf attempted to snap at her, but the clothes in her mouth prevented it.

"What's... that?" Viper asked, blinking at A.J.'s hands.

"Viper, didn't you say we need to go?" Dakota called in a whiny tone.

"Holy-" Viper was interrupted when A.J.'s back legs turned into feet. "What are you?!"

The pleading look in A.J.'s green eyes begged her to let her go. Viper shrieked as A.J.'s spine snapped sickeningly. Her ribs caved in.

Dakota rolled his eyes. Viper and animals...

He walked up behind his sister and touched her shoulder. "Hey, Vipe, we gotta-"

"Gwaaaaaaah!!!!!" Viper screamed, causing him to flinch backwards. "Dakota, you perve!!!" She spun around and slapped him away.

"What?! What'd I do?!" Dakota shouted, blocking his sister's smacks.

"Shut your eyes! SHUT 'EM!!!!" She shouted.

"Okay, okay!" Dakota growled. "They're shut!" He shielded his face with his arms and stumbled backwards, falling down.

"It's okay, it's okay." He heard Viper coax. "Just... uh... get dressed and..." She trailed off. "You didn't happen to do that when you were fighting him, did you?"

"Viper, who are you talking to-" Dakota opened his eyes. Next to Viper, A.J. stood up, fully human... fully clothed. With a series of grotesque snaps and pops, she pushed her jaw back into place.

"Uh... hi..." A.J. blushed furiously. Dakota's eyes were about ready to pop out of his head.

"Y-You... Y-You're..."

"Human?" A.J. smiled sheepishly. "Sort of."


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings:** Language

**Spoilers: **Danny Phantom- Mystery Meat

**Author's Notes: **Pronunciations- Quadrupled (Kwah-droo-pledd), Xarcon (Zar-kon)

Chapter Eight

"But.. you were just-... I thought you were..." Dakota stuttered, his eyes twitching. Viper glanced back and forth between A.J. and her brother, seeming just as calm as ever.

"You?" A.J. countered. "How do you think I feel! One moment you're human and the next you're some sort of purple lizard from outer space!" She cried.

Dakota frowned. "I'm a Quadrupled, for your information. From the planet Xarcon." He crossed his arms. "Besides, you did the same thing!"

"I did not turn into a four-armed scaly lizard thing." A.J. crossed her arms as well.

"No, but you sure as hell scared the shit out of me!" Dakota shouted. "One minute you're a wolf and the next you're... _human_!"

"It's called being a werewolf, Dumbass." A.J. sneered.

"Okay, okay!" Viper intervened. "Enough of the language! Geez, Koda. I think she could give you a run for your money with that mouth of hers." She chuckled.

A.J. growled. "And what are you? A slimy, green one with ten-shousand eyeballs and flippers?"

Viper pursed her lips. "No, I'm perfectly human, thank you." She put her hands on her hips. "I'm also an expert ninja." She grinned.

A.J. cocked an eyebrow.

"She can do different jutsus." Dakota said. "Like that paralysis jutsu? One of her specialties."

Viper giggled. "And if you two don't stop it, I'll perform my Earth Burial jutsu on you two!" She said cheerfully.

Dakota and A.J. released their glares on each other and looked away.

"Jutsus are special powers that ninjas possess." Viper said. "And by the way, my name's Viper!" Viper giggled. "And this is my brother, Dakota."

A.J. looked at the girl and smiled. "A.J."

"A.J.? That's a pretty name." Viper smiled sweetly.

"So..." Dakota began. "A werewolf, huh?"

"Yeah. It's a creature thought to be mythical in ancient times. A human that can turn into a wolf." A.J. told him.

"I know what it is." Dakota snapped. "I read too."

"Well I don't." Viper shouted. "Let her talk, Koda." She elbowed her brother. "So, you can really turn into an animal! How cool!"

A.J. smiled faintly. "It's not as cool as you think it is. For one, it's a very painful process. Fortunately for me, I've been one for so long the pain is nothing anymore." She sighed. "For another, you're forced into the transformation on Full Moon nights... because that's when you..." She trailed off, not exactly sure if she should continue.

"When you do what?" Viper asked, completely enthralled in A.J.'s story. "Do what?" She asked again, impatiently.

A.J. shook her head. "Nothing, nevermind. I should be going..." She turned around.

"It's when they feed, Viper." Dakota said. A.J. stopped, but didn't bother turning to look at him.

"I guess you have done your reading. Congrats." She spat.

"Feed?" Viper asked. "On what?"

"Viper... you make blonds look bad." Dakota sighed. "On people, Dipstick. Werewolves eat human flesh."

Viper's face went pale. "...P-People?" She stuttered.

A.J. turned towards her and frowned. "I wasn't going to tell you that." She grumbled. "I was just going to leave. You can thank your brother for scarring you for life now." She turned and ran off into the trees.

It wasn't too far ahead, she could smell the farm animals. Her house was just beyond these last rows of trees...

"Hey, wait!" Someone shouted behind her.

_What the-? _A.J. swiveled her head around. The two from earlier... they were following her? And keeping up? She didn't doubt the boy could match and surpass her own speed, but that girl... she was jumping through the trees like a monkey or something.

A.J. skidded to a stop and turned around, crouching defensively in front of them. "Leave me alone." She growled.

Viper leapt down from one of the trees to stand in front of her brother. "Hey, calm down, I just wanted to talk to you." She said.

"I don't feel much like talking right now." A.J. snapped. "Sorry."

"Do you feed every month?" Viper continued, ignoring the wolfa's snappy tone. "On the full moons?"

A.J. narrowed her green eyes on the girl. "Why?"

Viper shrugged. "Well, I was just wondering if you... liked to do that or something..."

"Of course I don't like it!" A.J. shouted. "You have no idea what I put myself through just trying to keep from killing every month! I lock myself in my house, I get lost in the forest, I bury myself alive... but nothing ever works!" Tears were stinging at her eyes again, but she wouldn't let them fall.

Viper smiled. "Oh good." She said with a sigh of relief.

A.J. furrowed her eyebrows. "Good?"

"Yeah. I'm glad you don't like it. That would be a little weird." Viper chuckled. Dakota smiled.

"Why do you care?" A.J. asked, standing up straight again.

Viper and Dakota looked at each other and then back at her. "Because you're one of us." Dakota said.

"He means an outcast. Not an alien." Viper laughed. "You see, Dakota doesn't go to school for fear that his little watch device will short-circuit like it did earlier. He mostly stays in the house so he doesn't get discovered."

"And Viper isn't exactly what you'd call "popular"." Dakota added. "She's not allowed to use her jutsu unless absolutely needed. Already having done it once in public and not liking the results, she doesn't want to make that kind of mistake again."

"So... we're not _so_ different." Viper shrugged. "So you're a man-eating half-animal once a month... he's an alien from another planet and I'm a ditzy ninja." She chuckled.

A.J. was utterly confused. _Are they insane!_

"Viper and I were talking..." Dakota began again, clearing his throat.

"What, for the thirty seconds that you weren't chasing after me?" A.J. asked.

He grinned. "Yes actually."

"Okay, you two. That's enough." Viper rolled her eyes. "A.J., what me and Dakota were discussing is... we want to help you."

A.J. stayed silent, looking at Viper confused.

"You said it only happens once a month, right?" Dakota asked. "Well, is there any chance you get distracted?"

"What?"

"Would we be able to stop you, is what we're trying to say." Viper said. "I've got some pretty good jutsus and Dakota's super fast. You said you don't want to kill people... so, why can't we help?"

A smile tugged at the corners of A.J.'s lips. "Well... uh... Danny Phantom is already after me." She said.

"Danny Phantom? The ghost kid who fights those other... ghosts?" Dakota asked. A.J. nodded. "Well, he's just one kid." He grinned. "And he has his hands full enough with those other ecto-freaks running around town. He could use some help..."

The smile broke free of her emotionless barrier and touched her sparkling, green eyes. "You guys have just met me and you're willing to do this!" She cried, throwing herself at them. She pulled them both into a big hug. "I love you! Both of you!"

Viper giggled and smiled, hugging her back but Dakota struggled to get free, blushing furiously.

"_...Police have informed our news crew that these strange phenomena appear to be bear attacks. Some animal experts say it is possible that the bears living in the northern region of the state are moving south. Why, they can't explain. Rangers have been stationed around the city limits and will shoot anything on-sight to prevent these human casualties..."_

The bartender used his over-sized, white washcloth to wipe the shiny oak counter in front of him. A tall, looming figure sat on one of the stools opposite him, his attention only on the news program. His eerie, blue eyes were narrowed, focused on the television screen.

"Bear attacks... humph." The man grunted.

"Yeah, they's is saying that seven more people were found dead this mornin' over there at that Lake Eerie." The bartender said, smacking loudly on the gum he was chewing. "You want anything else, Mr. Masters?" He asked.

"One more." The man pushed his empty glass towards the barkeep.

"All right." The pudgy bartender took the glass.

"Those are no bear attacks." The tall figure said to himself, leaning his head forward. Strands of long, white hair fell into his face. "No bear attacks at all."


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** Very minor language; Use of alcohol

**Spoilers: **none

**Author's Notes: **Simon Coell, A.J. Courman © to Ookami Maniakku; Again, I don't really know if Amity Park is in Ohio or not, I was just guessing because of the references to Lake Eerie in the show Danny Phantom. Also- Simon Coell was originally a spoof character I made of Simon Cowell from American Idol. He has the opposite color hair (instead of dark grey, light blond) and a British accent. But his personality is opposite of Cowell's. Eventually, Simon turned into what he is now and he's one of my favorite characters to play. 83

Chapter Nine

He wasn't sure how she'd found him. He couldn't quite remember much after the tree had come crashing down on him, but somehow he was in an alley now- at least, that's what it looked like... and smelled like. His body was propped up against the dead-end brick wall in the back of the corridor, and he was surrounded by brick walls with the opening to the alley several feet away. Fire escapes and metal pipes lined the walls, dripping with excess water from the rains before or juice from garbage thrown out.

And speaking of garbage, there was a hell of a lot of it here. Dozens of the black bags overflowed the two dumpsters. Mice and giant, fat rats with beady, black eyes and foam around their mouths scurried between hiding places, munching on trash or excreting feces everywhere.

He tried to move his head and found it rather difficult. Something cold and sticky was on the back of his head. He lifted one hand, expertly taped like a boxer's, to feel it and grimaced when he discovered the substance was blood. His blood.

What had happened to him after that monster had swung the tree into him? Everything was fuzzy, he couldn't remember. He had to have gotten knocked out, that had to be the explanation...

The moon was high and burning above, lighting up the very dark alley and street at the opening. He could hear faint voices, far away. As he tried to turn his head once more, the voices got louder.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus his vision on the shadowed figures that suddenly appeared in front of him- at the entrance of the alleyway. One figure was extremely tall and muscular. But the muscles were all in the wrong places and its neck was too short. It looked misshapen and ugly, even being hidden in the shadows. The other figure was smaller and lithe, definitely female. Both were staring at the other, tense like there was a battle going on.

That's when he remembered. The boy gasped in pain as he sat up quickly, the memory flickering across his mind's eye. The girl. She'd arrived on the scene right after he'd been smashed into the ground. Was that her facing off with the creature right now?

"N-No..." He mumbled, reaching out to her, wanting to tell her not to fight the monster that had been fighting him. But his vision was beginning to blur again. He was getting dizzy. "Don't..." He rested his head against the cool brick wall behind him again, watching the two figures helplessly.

Suddenly one of them moved. The smaller one, the female. He blinked, unable to locate her. She was fast, having disappeared in a split second. He could tell the monster was confused as well because it was now looking around as quickly as its massive body was allowing.

Out of nowhere, a black blur rammed into the side of the giant, misshapen creature, causing it to stumble backwards into a dumpster. A loud bang rang through the cold, night air.

"Where are you!" The monster-creature suddenly shouted. "Come out and face me like a man!"

"Sorry..." The female voice was soft and coaxing, like the purr of a cat. "But I'm not a man." Another black blur.. but this one was several feet above the ground. The boy could see the girl push off of a wall and land a good side-kick on the creature's jaw. The massive creature howled in pain and fell backwards, out into the street. The girl followed.

Now suddenly very interested in the brawl, the boy slumped forward and managed to crawl to the entrance of the alley, watching the two characters fighting in the street. Every car that went by blared their horns and swerved around the fighters.

"Why are you doing this!" The monster cried. The boy could see him better now. He was a man, but barely. Tall, about ten feet, with arms as thick as tree-trunks. His face, small in comparison with his body, rested atop his short, bulging neck. He was bearing his teeth in an animal-like snarl, drool hanging from his bloody lips. "You have no business here!" He snarled. His nostrils flared.

"No business here?" The girl, still hidden in the shadows, asked. She sauntered over to the monster-man, one hand on her small hips. The only feature visible in the shadows were her shining, green eyes.

"My fight is not with you, Demon!" The monster shouted.

The girl chuckled quietly. "I'm not a demon." She answered coolly. "And my fight is with whoever picks on defenseless people."

The monster-man grinned sickeningly. "He was not as defenseless as you may think." He chuckled.

"Then why were you using him for batting practice?" The girl retorted. "You seem like the bully to me."

The boy watching from the entrance of the alley reached into his pant pocket slowly, gently pulling out a small cube. He blinked at it for a moment before twisting it like a Rubik's cube. After a few twists, a small, red light flashed on and off inside of it. He sat up, and summoned all the strength he had to throw the device at the monster-man. It landed just behind the creature. The boy leaned against the wall to the right and sighed.

As the monstrous creature raised his massive fist to flatten the girl in one blow, the cube exploded behind him. Dozens of metallic legs shot out of the tiny device and clung to him. They wrapped around every inch of the creature's body like a boa constrictor. He screamed and howled in pain when electricity surged through the metal bars until he was unconcious, lying on the ground.

The girl was frozen in shock, staring at the downed figure in front of her until the metal bars started glowing. They raised the giant up into the air and then turned him into specks of light energy. The light energy collected back inside the cube and it closed up. The red light stopped flashing and instead just remained on.

The girl took a tentative step towards it and then picked it up. Her head snapped up and she looked wide-eyed at the boy in the alley. Her green eyes flashed.

She walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him. "What did you do to him?" She asked.

The boy felt himself staring at her face, and was helpless to stop. Even in the shadows, he could see her face. Not well, but he could see her. Her eyes were like emeralds, their color so enchanting, so bright... he'd never seen eyes like that in a creature... And he'd seen many a creature in his one thousand, five hundred-and-some-odd years. Her skin was pale, ghostly pale. Her raven hair was shining, streaked with an odd hue of blue.

"Hello?" She called in a sing-songy voice, waving a hand in front of his face. "Hey Blondy, I'm talkin' to you." She jabbed the cube at him. "What did you do to him?" She asked again.

The boy blinked his dull, gray eyes. "De-materialized..." He mumbled. The girl raised an eyebrow. "...He's safe. Not to worry." The boy smiled, his British accent accidentally slipping into a more uncivilized version.

The girl sat down next to him, fiddling with something at her feet. Then she lifted up his head and wrapped some sort of cloth around it.

"You're bleeding pretty badly, Kid." She observed. "I'm going to take you to the hospital." She began to lift him onto his feet.

His eyes widened. "No!" He shouted. The girl stopped immediately, looking at him curiously.

"Do you not know the meaning of 'bleeding pretty badly'?" She asked. "If you don't get to the-"

"I'll be fine, thank you much." He pulled his arm away from her and sat up, swaying a little.

"Okay, Kid. I think you're delirious..." The girl squatted down next to him again. "What's your name?" She asked, tilting her head.

The boy rubbed his eyes and then looked at her. "Simon." He answered. "And you are?"

She grinned. "Simon..." She mumbled, as if trying the name on for size. "My name's A.J."

"Which stands for?"

"None of your business, _Simon_." She replied teasingly. "Anyways, you need to be looked at by some doctors. You've got a pretty bad head wound and I think you might have some broken ribs. That _thing _hit you pretty hard."

"That _thing _is a man." Simon said. "What's left of one, anyways." He coughed.

"A man? You mean... _a human _man?"

"Yes. In a shirt-tail way." Simon answered. "The stupid bugga's name is Dr. Henry Jekyll the fourth... or in this case, he's known as Mr. Hyde."

A.J. cocked an eyebrow. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?... Isn't that just a fairy-"

"No." Simon interrupted her, digging something out of his pocket. "I saw you fighting him out there... you were pretty good to say the least."

A.J. shifted uncomfortably where she sat. "Oh... you saw me? I thought you were asleep..."

Simon flashed a toothy grin. "Not to worry, Love. Your secret's safe with me." He put a hand over his heart. "So, what are you anyway, a demon? Vampire?"

A.J. blinked. "Um... actually... I'm a lycanthrope." She said, hoping that maybe Simon didn't know what that was.

He nodded to himself. "A werewolf, eh? Interesting."

A.J. cocked her head. "...You're not... afraid?" She asked. Simon laughed heartily.

"Afraid! Ha!" He coughed, spitting up blood. A.J. flinched. He wiped the blood off of his mouth and smiled like nothing had happened. "Oh, Love, I've seen scarier things than you." He chuckled. "Even Mr. Hyde was scarier than a lit'l pup."

A.J. growled. "I'm not a pup."

Simon blinked. "Oh.. right. Sorry then." He smiled. "Well, I suppose it's only fair to explain what I am." He held out an ID card. A.J. took it. "Tell me, Love, have you ever heard of a vampire before?" He dug something else out of his pocket. A bottle of something.

A.J. gulped. "That's what... you are?"

"Mmm..." He took a swig from the bottle.

"Well... I've seen them in movies..." A.J. eyed the bottle warily.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Simon's body shook with laughter. "Oh, please don't tell me that's the only place you've gotten your knowledge of vampires from!"

A.J. shifted uncomfortably again, wrinkling her nose. The liquid from the bottle smelled bad. "Well... uh..."

"Listen to me, Love." Simon put a hand on hers. "Vampires are simple creatures, just like werewolves. It's these bloody humans that misconstrue things, eh?" He asked.

A.J. bit her lip. She was in every way the monster that humans feared.

Simon blinked, taking another drink. "What's the matter, huh?" He asked. "Don't tell me you even view yourself as a monster..."

"Of course I do!" A.J. shouted. "I turn into a damn wolf every month! I _eat _people!"

Simon just smiled. "But do you do it willingly?" He asked.

A.J. blinked this time. "Well... no. Not exactly."

"There you have it!" Simon threw up his arms and then scrambled to his feet, taking another swig. "You're not a monster. A true monster enjoys the things it does." He leaned up against the wall for support from his dizziness.

"What about you?" A.J. asked. "Since your a vampire... don't you... you know?" She handed him back his ID card.

"Do I prey on young women at night?" Simon replied, a wicked smile on his face. "Do I grab the unsuspecting victims?" He took a step towards her and she, in turn, stepped back. "Do I use my razor-sharp fangs to pierce the flesh of their neck and drain their body of their life-giving blood?" He backed her into a wall, propping himself up over her with one hand. "And then do I laugh maniacally and leave their bodies for the buzzards having eaten my fill for the night?" His grin widened, and he poured more of the liquid from the bottle into his mouth. A.J. stared at him, her heart racing.

"Not at all." He stated matter-of-factly, leaning away from her.

A.J. furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"That's the kind of thing you see in movies, Love." He chuckled.

"Geez! You didn't have to scare me half-to-death!" A.J. growled. Simon shrugged.

"It's your own fault for being afraid, Love."

"Well, if you don't need people's blood to live on, then... what do you do?" A.J. crossed her arms.

"Oh, we need people's blood to survive." Simon assured her. "We just don't murder to take it."

A.J. went paler than normal. "W-We? There's more of you?"

Simon raised an eyebrow, giving her a funny look. "Of course. Just as there are more of you. A group of us are stationed here in New York."

"Why?"

"We're known as The Regulators." He took the small cube that contained Mr. Hyde off of the ground and tossed it up in the air, catching it again. "We regulate the number of In-humans here in The Big Apple." He stuck the cube in his pocket. "What I mean is, we regulate the number of kills they're allowed."

"What?"

Simon leaned up against the opposite wall. "You see, A.J., me and my men drink blood from either those that have already died of natural causes, or we raid the nearest blood bank." He smiled. "Thievery is a lesser crime than murder." His smile disappeared and he looked at his boots. "Unfortunately, there are creatures out there that don't like our way of living. They prefer to hunt live food and there are some that need to hunt live food." He sighed. "So, to keep the human population from experiencing a sudden spike in death rates, each creature is allowed a certain kill limit for the month, each number depending on the creature."

"You... let them kill people?" A.J. asked.

Simon looked away. "I never said I liked it." He sighed. "But, if we took away their right to hunt, we'd be fighting creatures every second of every day. You have no idea how many In-humans there are in this city alone. Besides, for those In-humans that need to feed, we'd be endangering their species and eventually they'd become extinct." He shrugged. "So which way should I go? Protecting humans or protecting In-humans? I don't know."

A.J. nodded. "So... what would be a human kill limit for... someone like me?" She asked.

Simon looked up. "You? A female, teenage werewolf... that would be eight a month."

Her eyes widened. "Eight!"

"Sorry, Lass, that's all you're allowed to-"

"Are you freaking kidding me!" She shouted. "Don't you dare act like I would even _want _to kill that many people!" She growled. "And don't you think that number's a little high!"

"Easy, Lass." Simon held up his hands. "It's not just me that makes the rules." He drank some more.

A.J. wrinkled her nose. "What is that, anyways?" She asked.

Simon wiped his mouth and re-capped the bottle. "It's me drink." He grinned.

"It doesn't smell like blood..."

Simon frowned. "Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean blood is the only thing I drink, Love." He lifted up his bottle. "I've got to have a little of me ale once in a while." He chuckled.

A.J. furrowed her eyebrows. "That's alcohol?"

Simon cocked an eyebrow. "What do you think the word 'ale' means?" He asked.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking booze?" She put her hands on her hips.

He laughed again. "Lass, I'm over a thousand years old. I think I can hold me alcohol."

A.J.'s jaw dropped. "You're a thousand years old!"

Simon popped the bottle open again and took another drink. "Over a thousand."

"You look like you're seventeen!"

"Well, thank you kindly!" Simon laughed, taking a bow. "You don't look half bad yourself, Love."

A.J. shook her head. "Wait... you shouldn't be drinking while you're so injured." She said. "Alcohol's a blood-thinner... You're gonna-"

"Bleed to death?" Simon chuckled. He reached up and took the cloth off of his head, turning around. His blond hair was sticky with blood, but there was no wound left. "See? Perk of being a vampire, I s'pose." He hiccuped.

A.J. sighed. "I should've known..."

"Don't worry about me." Simon said, swaying as he turned onto the street. A.J. followed him. "I'll be fine." His refined British accent was beginning to become uncivilized again. His speech was slurring.

"Hey... aren't you going to get in trouble for public entoxication?" A.J. asked, being careful not to get in his way.

Simon scrunched his nose. "Not a chance." He said, taking another swig. "I make me way home all the time." He stumbled forward a little. A.J. reached out to catch him, but he caught himself.

"You don't... need help?" She asked. He shook his head.

"A 'course not." He said, stopping in the middle of the street. "Hmmm... where was I going?" He asked himself, scratching his head.

"Simon, maybe you should go sit down." A.J. grabbed his arm and led the vampire across the street, to a group of trees. He stumbled against the trees and slid into a sitting position.

"Aye, thanks Lass." He smiled, closing his eyes, and took another drink. "So... I've lived in New York for the past two hundred years and I've not seen you around." He observed.

A.J. nodded. "I'm visiting..." She sighed, sitting down beside him. "My history class is here for the weekend for a field trip. I was just taking a walk when I saw Tall, Dark and Gruesome fighting with you."

"Mmmm... For which school?"

"Casper High. It's in Amity Park, Ohio." She pulled her knees up to her chest. Simon nodded to himself, humming the British National Anthem. He smiled drunkenly at her.

"Love, you seem a lit'l tense." He observed.

A.J. glanced at Simon. "Sorry..." She mumbled. "I've been a little stressed out lately."

Simon raised his bottle to her. A.J. shook her head and scrunched her nose. "No way."

He shrugged. "It'll get rid of all ya worries." He took another swig. "All right then, if ya don't want a drink... what's eatin' atcha, Kid?"

A.J. let out a big sigh. "Oh... just... stuff."

"Like?" Simon hiccuped.

She shook her head and looked away. "You wouldn't understand..."

Simon laughed. "Oh, Lass... I'm a fifteen hundred-year old vampire. You don't think I'd understand?" He downed the last of his drink.

A.J. smiled softly. "You're still a guy." She flashed a grin at him.

Simon chuckled. "That I am, Love. My apologies." He shrugged, laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Spoilers: **Mystery Meat,

**Warnings: **Mild language

**Author's Notes: **xD I love Simon. Anywho, I got the "once you pop" slogan from an ooooold Pringles commercial, lol.

Chapter Ten

"This way." Simon said, pointing to the left. A.J. helped him around the corner. "The hotel sshhould be this way..." He mumbled drunkenly, having dug another bottle of booze out of his long trench coat. A.J. wondered just how much he could hold in that coat.

"Don't you think you've had enough tonight?" A.J. asked.

Simon wiped his mouth after having taken another drink. "Once you pop... you jusss can't stop." He chuckled.

A.J. rolled her eyes. "That's for Pringles."

"So?" Simon shrugged. "So, you say you're here with a ghost boy too?" He asked.

"Yeah. And as far as I know, he doesn't have a craving for human flesh, so you don't have to worry."

"Well, that's good." Simon said.

"Danny's only half-ghost." A.J. continued. "He was changed accidentally a few months ago."

"How'd hhhe accomplish that?" Simon asked, taking a swig. "I asssume he wasn't bitten by a ghost?"

A.J. smiled. "Not exactly. His parents are scientists and they built this huge machine called a Ghost Portal. It leads to another world called-"

"The Ghost Zone." Simon interrupted her, directing her around another corner.

"Yeah... you know about it?"

"A 'course." Simon said, glugging his alcohol. "What part of "I've been around for over a thousand years" aren't you understanding?"

A.J. smiled. "Anyways... the stupid thing wasn't working, so Mr. and Mrs. Fenton gave up on it. Danny was curious and, encouraged by his two curious friends, he went in to check it out." She sighed. "I told him not to go. I told him it was a bad idea." She shook her head.

"Turn 'ere." Simon said. "Ssso, what happened next?"

A.J. shrugged. "I don't know, really. There was a bright flash of light and I ran in to get him... but... it wasn't him." She shuddered. "He had white hair and glowing eyes. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen... Don't tell him that."

Simon chuckled. "What about these others you were talking about?"

"My other friends? Well... there's Viper and Dakota. Viper's a ninja. Dakota is her "adopted" brother who's really an alien from outer space. And then there's my... uh... boyfriend, I guess."

"Boyfriend?" Simon sounded disappointed. A.J. chuckled.

"Yeah. His name's Jack. He's just human... only, he's got telepathic and telekinetic powers."

"You've got some pretty ssstrange pals there, Love." He slurred.

"Yeah. But they're cool." A.J. smiled. "They're all like me- don't want to share their secrets and everything. So, we're pretty much all we have."

"What, you're not countin' me in that little grouping?" Simon stopped her.

A.J. looked at him. "Huh?"

"Jusss 'cause I live in New York means that I don't get to be your friend?" He asked. "Or is it because of the fact that I'm an alcoholic vampire?"

A.J. grinned. "No... I just don't like Brits." She teased.

Simon frowned. "Ha ha."

A.J. shook her head. "I'm just kidding. Lighten up, Bat Boy."

He took another drink of his ale. "So, Amity Park, eh?"

"Yep. It's a pretty peaceful town..." A.J. blinked. "When it's not being attacked by ghosts... or me..."

Simon laughed. "I s'pose I'll have to visit sssometime."

"That would be nice." A.J. smiled. "I've got an extra bedroom if you ever want to stay for a few days."

"Do you really think your parents would like it if an "older boy" stayed at your house?" He asked as they walked up to the back of the hotel. The streetlamps were on, making things easier to see in the parking lot.

A.J. frowned. "Uh... my parents are... dead." She said. "I live with my grandpa."

Simon gritted his teeth. "Oh.. my apologies, Dear."

She shook her head. "It's okay. And no, I don't think Grandpa would mind. As long as you stayed upstairs. He doesn't come up there too often."

Simon grinned. "Well, I guess I'll jusss have to take you up on your offer sometime."

_What offer?_

Simon blinked. "Esscuse me?"

A.J. looked up at him. "What?"

"Did you just say something?"

"No. Why?"

Simon looked around, stumbling like a drunk. "I could have sssworn... I just heard a voice..."

_You did hear a voice._

"Okay, who is that?!" Simon shouted.

A.J.'s eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"You didn't hear that?"

"Apparently not."

"Somebody's messin' wit me..." Simon looked at his bottle.

"Maybe you've drank yourself into having hallucinations." A.J. rolled her eyes.

"Couldn't be." Simon mumbled sadly. "Could it?"

_It's not the alcohol..._

"Bloody hell!" Simon cried, spinning around in circles. "Who the hell is that?! Show yourself, you coward!"

A.J.'s eyes widened as a thought struck her. "All right, Jack. Come on out." She put her hands on her hips.

A figure detached itself from the shadows. It was a boy, about as tall as A.J. with red hair and blue eyes. He had his arms crossed.

"Who'sss 'at?" Simon asked, stabilizing himself next to A.J.

"That would be my boyfriend." A.J. sighed.

Simon wrinkled his nose, narrowing his eyes on the boy. "That scrawny lit'l bugga?"

_Shut your mouth, Drunkard._

"Gaah!" Simon grabbed at his head. "Stop bloody doing that!"

"Jack, cut it out." A.J. ordered.

"Why should I?" The boy called, walking up to them. "A.J., you've been gone for hours. Viper's still trying to keep up her Gen Jutsu so that Mr. Lancer thinks you're in the hotel. Danny and I have been out looking for you all night!" He exclaimed. "And then you finally decide to come back at one o'clock in the morning and you're hanging around an under-aged drunk?!"

A.J.'s eyes flashed threateningly, but she didn't let it lace her tone. "I told you I was going for a walk." She said, smiling.

Jack's own eyes flashed in return. "For four hours?!"

A.J. just shrugged. "I ran into a little trouble. Lost track of time. So shoot me."

"Don't tempt me, Courman." Jack said. "We've all been worried sick about you."

"See? I told you you shouldn't have come on the field trip. You worry too much, Jack." A.J. shook her head. "Maybe I should have invited Dakota instead..."

"Dakota doesn't care about you enough to be worried."

"Exactly." A.J. countered. "He'd actually let me wander without bugging me. I swear, you keep stressing out like you do and you're going to have full head of gray hair by the time you're twenty."

"A'right, well," Simon interrupted. "This has all been well and good, but I think it's high time I be leav-"

"Hold on." A.J. grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving. "I haven't introduced you two yet." She smiled.

Simon looked uncomfortably between Jack and A.J. "Well, uh... Lov- er... Lass, I don't think your boyfriend likesss me much already..."

"Damn right." Jack spat.

"Jack, calm down." A.J. ordered. "This is Simon. I helped him out earlier. He's a vampire that's part of an organization known as The Regulators. They're good guys, like Danny. He was after... believe it or not, Mr. Hyde."

The psychic cocked his head at Simon, scrunching his face up. "You're a vampire?" He asked, more skeptical than scared.

Simon nodded, but said nothing.

"Well, you're certainly not who I would picture a vampire to be..." Jack scratched his head. Simon rolled his eyes.

"You bloody humans are all alike." He threw his hands into the air, sending alcohol sloshing out of the top of his bottle. "You sssstereo-type everyone!" He slurred.

Jack flinched away from the sloshing liquid. "Sorry!" He shouted, raising his hands up in defense.

"Simon is over a thousand years old too," A.J. continued, acting like this was a perfectly normal conversation. "So he's well over the legal drinking-age."

Jack looked incredulously at A.J. "And this is who you choose to hang out with... ever wonder why you're not the most popular person in school?" He asked.

A.J. smiled.

Simon took another gulp. "Well, Love, I shall see you again hopefully." He said, taking a bow. He stumbled forward. A.J. caught him as he stood back up. "But, I do have to be going. My brother will be missssing me terribly by now..." He smiled goofily.

A.J. smiled back. "Okay. Well.. it was nice to meet you, Simon."

"The pleasure's all mine, Love." Simon took her hand, barely able to stand up, and kissed the back of it lightly. He looked at Jack and flashed a toothy grin, saluting him. "Wish I could say the same for you, Bloke." He chuckled.

Jack couldn't help but smile. "All right, let's get inside and try to sneak you past Lancer." He took A.J.'s hand and led her to the front of the building.

A.J. took one last glance back and saw that Simon had already disappeared into the night.

"You know, you could have at least checked in!" Viper shouted, the pitch of her voice rising as she spoke. "You have no idea how worried I was!"

"For the millionth time, Viper," A.J. complained. "I'm sorry!"

The kids had already gotten off of the plane, back at Amity Park now, and Viper was still going on and on about A.J.'s absence the previous night.

"Do you realize how hard it is to maintain a Gen Jutsu when you're freaking out about your friend who left four hours ago in the dark New York City streets and hasn't come back?!" The ninja cried.

"Did you ever think that maybe said friend was also a super-powered, invincible monster?" A.J. shouted back. A couple people who passed them by in the airport terminal gave them funny looks.

"Okay, you two," Jack put a hand on each of their backs. "Let's not start a fight in the middle of all these people, okay?" He whispered urgently. Viper and A.J. looked away from each other.

"Miss Krader, Miss Courman, Mr. Tanner," Mr. Lancer's annoyingly nasal voice sounded behind them. "Could we please move it along?"

The group of kids hurried to where the rest of their class was standing, waiting for the bus to go home.

"A.J.," Danny Fenton called. Sam Manson, the goth girl, stood beside him, holding her and Tucker Foley's backpacks.

"Hi Danny, Hi Sam... er.. where's Tucker?" A.J. asked, walking up to them. Sam rolled her violet eyes.

"He had to use the bathroom..." She mumbled. A.J. smiled. Viper laughed.

"Hey Danny, sorry again about last night. I didn't mean to keep you up." A.J. smiled sheepishly.

Danny yawned. "Oh.. no problem. What are friends for, right?" He smiled.

A.J. smiled back.

"Okay, here I am!" shouted Tucker, racing up to them and snatching his stuff back from Sam. He looked over at A.J. and Viper. "Oh, helloooo ladies!" He slid over to them and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "Don't worry, you two. There's enough Foley to go around."

A.J. and Sam frowned and rolled their eyes. Viper just smiled, like always. Jack and Danny were laughing their butts off...

"Viper, you mind?" A.J. asked.

"Sure." Viper giggled. She took Tucker's hand that was on her shoulder and threw him forward, over her back. The boy flailed around until he hit the ground.

"Ugghhhh..." Tucker moaned. A.J., Viper and Sam were the ones laughing this time. Danny and Jack cringed away from Viper. The ninja bent over, smiling.

"Don't try to do that again." She warned Tucker, still cheerful. "Unless you want to be in the ground next time instead of on top of it." She giggled and stood back up.

"So, these are all the victims then?" A looming figure stared at a massive computer screen. His piercing, blue eyes never left the monitor.

"Yes, Sweetums." A holographic version of a woman in a blue jumpsuit walked up beside him. She had shorter, brown hair and violet eyes.

The man smiled at the nickname. He loved it. If only the woman who that stupid hologram was modeled after would say the same things to him...

But that was another story for another day.

"All of the victims have definitely died from some sort of animal bite." He said, pacing back and forth in front of the screen, with his hands behind his back.

"It appears to be bear attacks, Honey." The hologram said. Vlad shook his head, smirking.

"There aren't enough bears in Ohio to have attacked that many people." He chuckled. "Those stupid detectives are just covering up their rear-ends because they don't know what's happening." He looked back at the monitor and lifted a hand towards it. "Besides, the bite wounds are inconsistent with grizzly and black bears. They're smaller. Like, some sort of coyote or wild dog..." He stroked his chin. "Search the databases for related attacks in the last ten years." He ordered.

"Of course, Dear." The hologram smiled sweetly. More images popped up on the screen and it zoomed in on a particular news article.

"When did these happen?" Vlad asked, looking intently at the photographs.

"The first one took place approximately 5.2 years ago. The most recent happened only approximately 2 years ago, Smoochy-Poo."

Vlad rolled his eyes. "What did I say about that one?" He asked.

The hologram giggled. "Oopsie, sorry Puddin' Pie. I'll erase that name from my database."

Vlad smiled. "Very good. Now..." He flicked his fingers expertly across the massive keyboard, giving the computer different commands. "What are your thoughts on this?" He asked.

"I cannot think, Honey-Bunny. I'm just a computer program." The hologram said cheerfully, walking up behind him.

Vlad messaged his forehead. "I realize that Maddie..." He grumbled. "I mean, what creature would be most consistent with these attacks?"

The holographic Maddie stayed silent for a moment, calculating. "A gray wolf, perhaps, Dear." She answered finally.

Vlad nodded. "That's what I thought you'd say... Are their any wolves in the vicinity of a hundred miles of Amity Park?" He asked.

"Receiving information from Vlad Co. satellites. One moment please." The Maddie Program smiled sweetly. "Approximately twenty-five known sources."

"And where would those be located?"

"Seven are receiving medical care and/or experimental care at Axion and Delagrange Laboratories and various veterinary clinics. The remaining animals are being kept in zoos."

"And none of them have been reported missing in the last six months?"

"No animals have been reported missing, Love." The Maddie Program dematerialized and rematerialized on the other side of Vlad.

"Just as I thought." He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Then there's only one explanation."

"And what would that be, My Vladdy-Waddy?"

Vlad pressed a button on his keyboard and a picture of a gray wolf came up. Pressing another button, a picture of an average-looking man came up on the screen. "It looks like Amity Park is being terrorized by a werewolf..."

"Oooo!!" The Maddie Program squealed. "You're so smart, Vlad! I love you." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. Even though he couldn't feel the kiss, Vlad smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Spoilers: **Teacher of the Year

**Warnings: **Moderate language; Mild violence

**Author's Notes: **Agent Ryan does not belong to me. He is a character belonging to a good friend of mine, MikeyCam33196.

Chapter Eleven

"I thought that class would never end!" Danny complained, walking down the street. Sam smiled at her friend while Tucker was busy fiddling with his PDA. A.J. just chuckled.

"Oh, come on Danny. Algebra's not that bad." She said.

"It is when you've got Lancer as a teacher." Danny replied. "You're lucky you're a grade ahead of me."

"Oh, I have Lancer too." A.J. assured him. "He just teaches History." She yawned. "Now, just wait til you're a sophomore... you'll be having loads of fun." Sarcasm laced her tone.

"Why does Lancer even choose to teach more than one class anyways?" Sam asked. "I mean, is that his dream job or something? Torturing kids all day long..."

"Lancer's not that bad in History." Tucker said. The others stopped walking and looked at him, unaware that he'd actually been hearing the conversation while he was playing Pong. Tucker just smiled without looking up. "I was paying attention..."

The others resumed walking. "Tucker, you don't think anything is that bad." Danny continued. "You're a genius. That's why you're in A.J.'s class."

"Aw, thanks Danny." A.J. giggled. "I didn't know you thought of me that way."

Danny blushed. "I... was just telling the truth." He looked away stubbornly. "You're probably the smartest person here."

"Thanks." Tucker and Sam said simultaneously. Danny blushed again.

"Oh, no, you guys-" He stammered. "I mean, of course I think you're smart..."

Sam smiled softly. "Even me?"

Danny smiled back. "Well... of course." He shrugged. She smiled and looked down at the ground and Danny looked away.

Tucker looked up momentarily, rolled his eyes, and went back to playing his game.

Danny gasped suddenly, stopping. The rest of the kids stopped too, looking at him. A fine, blue mist trailed out of Danny's mouth.

"Oh great." A.J. grumbled, sniffing the air.

"Mwahahahahahaha!!" Came an annoying voice from behind them. The kids spun around to see Technus floating there. The ghost had green skin, white hair like fire and wore a lab coat. He was also holding a bazooka-like weapon. "I am Technus! Master of all electrical technology!!" He shouted.

Tucker and Sam looked at each other, dropping their books and digging their own ghost-fighting weapons out of their backpacks while Danny set the rings in motion. White hair replaced black, green eyes replaced blue. Soon, his alter ego, Danny Phantom floated there. A.J. crouched into a defensive position. Claws and fangs grew out and her nose scrunched. She growled.

"All right, Technus. What's the plan this time?" Danny asked, crossing his arms. The ghost laughed maniacally and fired his weapon without answering. A large glowing green ball of ooze smacked into Danny, gluing him to the ground when he hit.

Sam swung a weapon called the "Jack-O-Ninetails" in the air and launched it at Technus while Tucker tried to hack into the ghost's weapon with his PDA. Technus just fired another shot, sticking the nine-tails to a tree, ripping it from Sam's hand.

While the ghost was busy with the kids, A.J. had snuck around to the back of him. "Hey, Techno-Freak." She shouted. Technus spun around, only to get punched in the jaw by A.J. He flew backwards, right into a ghost ray launched by Danny's only free hand, from the ground. Technus crashed into the ground.

"Get me out of this!" Danny cried, struggling. Sam ran over to him, trying to scoop the goop off of him.

"Gwaaaah!!" Technus screamed angrily, flying into the air again. He blasted more and more of the ooze-balls at the kids. Sam- who had managed to free Danny- dodged the balls of ectoplasm while Danny just phased through them. A.J. leapt under a nearby building's roof to avoid them but poor Tucker was splattered with an ecto-ball. His PDA flew from his hand and clanked noisily to the pavement. A passing car ran over the device while trying to swerve around the puddles of goop.

"Noooo!!" Tucker cried, looking at the ruined device. "That thing cost me a hundred bucks!!"

"Hey Technus, what's that thing full of? Gum from the underside of the Nasty Burger tables?" Danny chuckled, rising up to meet the ghost in the air.

"Clever, Ghost Child." Technus grinned. "But I'm going to have to shut that witty mouth of yours!" He cackled. Another blast of ecto-goop shot from the bazooka, but Danny easily blocked it with his own ghost shield.

"Gross." A.J. complained. The remnants of Technus' attack in the air dripped onto her head. "This is going to take forever to get out of my hair." She grumbled, shaking her head to get the slop off.

Danny fired several ghost rays at Technus, but the "Master of Technology" just phased through them. Danny duplicated himself into four beings and flew in on him, punching and kicking. Technus managed to blast two of the duplicates away before he was thrown back towards the ground.

A.J. grinned and was readying herself to aim a good kick at him when something shoved her out of the way. She yelped, tumbling across the ground.

"What the hell?!" She shouted. Before she had time to think of a way out of the net that entrapped her, electricity surged through it, shocking her whole body. She screamed in pain.

"Danny Phantom!" Someone called through a megaphone. Danny looked down and saw two men standing on hover-boards. One of them was holding Technus in the same kind of net that A.J. was trapped in. "By Order P, Sub-section A, Paragraph 7, Line-"

"Who the heck are you?" Danny interrupted. The two men looked at each other. They were dressed in white suits with black boots, gloves and sunglasses.

"We are known as The Guys In White." The Caucasian one that had the megaphone said. "I am Agent K. This is Agent O. You are under arrest for conducting paranormal activity on city streets."

Danny's face screwed up in confusion. "What?! Technus was trying to-"

"Come quietly with your hands in the air." Agent K interrupted him.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" A.J. shouted. She leapt at the agent and tackled him off of his hover-board, onto the ground. The net lay in shreds behind her.

"K!" Agent O shouted. He took something off of his belt, a ball?, and threw it down at the wolfa. It exploded into a cloud of smoke.

A.J. coughed and wheezed, unable to see, and scrambled out of the cloud. Her wolven features were more prominent now, including her tail that had ripped out of the seat of her pants. When she finally managed to clear her vision, she was face-to-face with the barrel of a gun.

"A.J.!" Tucker cried from somewhere behind her.

"What the hell are you?" Agent K asked, eyebrows raised.

"K, lookout!" O shouted. The agent spun around to see three ghost rays headed his way. A.J. knocked his legs out from under him, causing him to bash his chin on the ground, but missing the ghost rays. A.J. got clipped by one.

"Ouch!" She shook her hand, sticking her burned fingers in her mouth. Immediately the wound started to heal.

Fishing line came reeling at the Agent on the hover-board still, originating from the Fenton-Fisher that Sam was holding. She pulled on the string and Agent O was pulled off of his board and onto the ground.

The net with Technus in it opened up when the Agent let go of him and the ghost flew away as fast as he could.

"Shit!" Agent K swore. "We let him get away!"

"Let's just worry about them right now." Agent O cut the fishing line off of him with a laser from his watch. Both agents stood up and raised their arms. They pressed buttons on their watches. Jet-packs started building from some device on their backs. The rockets kicked up and they flew into the air. The hover-boards flew to them and the Agents grabbed the boards, pressing another button on them. Immediately the hover-boards transformed into some kind of rifle-looking guns.

"Give up now, Danny Phantom." Agent O said. "And... Danny Phantom's friends."

"Fat chance." A.J. growled.

"Fine. You leave us no choice." Agent K smirked. "Agent Ryan will want to hear about this." He cocked the gun and pointed it at A.J. while O pointed his weapon at Danny.

"Not so fast!" Danny cried, from behind the agents. The duplicate that they'd been pointing at disappeared. Danny smiled and blasted each of the agents in the jet packs. A rocket burst on each of them, sending one agent spiraling into a building and another into a tree.

Danny landed next to Sam and Tucker- who'd finally gotten out of the goop- and all three of them laughed.

"Good work, Danny. You're getting better every day." Sam complimented. Danny puffed out his chest. A.J. rolled her eyes.

"No!" Agent O shouted, climbing out of the tree. "We're not going back empty-handed!" He aimed the rifle at them and fired. Another electrified net came hurdling straight at Danny. A.J. gasped.

"Danny, look out!" She shouted, pushing him out of the way. The net snagged on her shirt and wrapped around her, sending her tumbling across the street again. The electricity surged even more intensely now. A.J. screamed before she fell unconcious.

Before Danny could react, a wire attached to the rifle and the net reeled A.J. back into the Agent's hand. He grabbed the net while his gun transformed into a hover-board again.

"A.J.!" Danny hollered, throwing ghost ray after ghost ray at the agent. Tucker and Sam watched in horror as the agent flew into the air, meeting up with Agent K and they both flew away, dodging Danny's attacks.

She couldn't really see anything. Heck, she couldn't really hear anything either. She was still in that state of being half-awake and half-asleep, and she wanted to go back to sleep. But her body had other plans. As she became more aroused, A.J. could hear people talking in hushed tones.

"Excellent specimen!"

"What is it?"

"What should we do with it?"

"Amazing..."

"Wait for Agent Ryan."

"But... what if he doesn't want it?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Ssshh!! It's waking up!"

A.J. barely got her eyes to open a fraction and regretted it immediately. Her surroundings were too bright. She shut her eyes again. She had a booming headache, not to mention the fact that parts of her body felt burned or numb. She tried opening her eyes again. The light wasn't so intense this time and she blinked, opening her lids further.

Several unfamiliar faces were staring at her. A.J. realized that she was lying horizontally. She tried to sit up, but couldn't. The wolfa's heart raced. She was strapped down to something... a table? She couldn't move her arms or legs. Panicking, she growled and struggled.

Two men held her back down.

"Calm down." One of them hissed. She growled and bared her teeth at him. He flinched away.

"Let me go!" She shouted.

The rest of the unfamiliar faces whispered in awe or horror when she spoke.

A.J. looked around. Where was she? Why was she strapped down? What happened to Danny and the others? And why were they so fascinated with the fact that she was talking?

A.J. glanced down at herself. Her clothes were ripped in places and her shoes had been lost somewhere. She could see her bare feet. Her bare, _furry _feet. Her eyes widened in horror. She looked down at her hands. Furry and clawed. Her breathing quickened. She must have lost enough control while she was sleeping that the transformation had begun. She could feel her own black and blue tail swish around her legs in agitation.

"Oh no..." She mumbled.

"It can speak!" One of the people said.

"What is it?"

"Is it human?"

"Where the hell am I?!" A.J. shouted. The group of people surrounding her took a step back out of fear. A.J. looked at each face intently. "Where's Danny?"

"Danny Phantom managed to escape." This voice was more familiar. The crowd separated and Agent O walked up to her. "Along with his two friends."

A.J. sighed with relief. "Where am I?" She demanded again.

"You're seven levels underground in one of my many bases." This voice was new, unfamiliar. A.J. looked past Agent O to see another man walk up behind him, wearing a smug smirk on his face. His eyes were an intense brown, matching the color of his hair. A.J. shuddered involuntarily.

"Underground?" She growled, trying to keep her composure even though she truly was freaking out on the inside.

The man smiled. "It's where we take _things_ like you to help aid in our research."

A.J. furrowed her eyebrows. "What research?"

"The research we use to create weapons that will stop creatures such as yourself from terrorizing our city." The man paced around in front of her. "That will _kill_ creatures like you, _Werewolf_."

A.J. smirked at first. _You can't kill me._ She thought, until the reality of his words sunk in. Sure, they might not be able to kill her, but what about people like.. Danny? Or Simon? Or... Dakota? She bit her lip, drawing blood. "You gotta be kidding." She snorted, trying to keep up the act. "You think you can actually kill a werewolf? Or a ghost?"

The man stopped pacing and looked back at her angrily. "I _know_ I can kill you. And I'll be happy to demonstrate for you after we're done with our little tests." He began to walk away.

A.J.'s eyes widened. "Tests? What tests?!" But the man kept walking. "Hey! What are you talking about?!" She shouted as he exited the room.

Agent O looked back at her and smirked. "Agent Ryan has more important things to deal with than a pesky dog." He sneered. A.J. growled. "Keep her locked up nice and tight. We've got work to do." He ordered.


	12. Chapter 12

**Spoilers: **None

**Warnings:** Mild language; Mild torture

**Author's Notes: **Julia Ryan, Jon Ryan, Izzy, and Agent James are © to MikeyCam33196. This is written- sort of- in Julia Ryan's perspective.

Chapter Twelve

"He's done what?" Julia Ryan asked, hands on her curvy hips. She was standing in one of the many offices in the underground, "Guys In White" base.

"Yeah... Apparently K and O captured her while fighting off that ghost boy, Danny Phantom." Agent James was propped up against the wall of his office, arms crossed and staring at the ground. The agent was tall and slender with a muscular build. He had brown hair with reddish highlights and shamrock-green eyes.

"Those two numskulls..." Julia shook her head, brown hair bouncing around her shoulders. "What have they done with her?"

James shrugged and kicked off of the wall. "I'm assuming they're keeping her with the others in the Holding Cell. Unless they've already started the experiments."

"I'm going to talk to Jon." Julia turned around and opened the door, only to have James shut it again. She turned around and looked up at him.

"You know he won't listen." James said.

"I have to try." Julia argued. "She's a little girl."

"He doesn't view her like that. You know him, Julia."

Julia sighed. "I have to try." She repeated. "Watch over Izzy while I'm gone?" She asked.

Agent James smiled and put his hand on her cheek. "Anything for you." He whispered. The two people just stood there for a few long seconds, staring into each other's eyes, debating what to do. Then, James leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

Julia returned the kiss before pulling away. "I have to go now." She whispered. He nodded.

"I'll take care of Izzy."

Julia Ryan nodded and opened the door again, slipping out into the quiet hallway. James watched her go, smiling.

"Jonathon, she's a little girl." Julia argued, her arms crossed. Agent Ryan had his back to her, going through some paperwork on his desk. His intense, brown eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose.

"I'm not discussing this with you, Julia." He replied in a quiet, fierce tone.

"Yes you are." Julia walked up to him, putting a hand on his paperwork to cover it. Agent Ryan paused and looked up at her.

"Go away." He ordered. She looked at him defiantly and kept her hand on the files. Agent Ryan put down the papers in his hand and stood erect in front of her. "What is it you want?" He asked.

"I heard about the girl." Julia told him.

Agent Ryan took off his glasses and placed them in the pocket on his lab coat. "James told you." He assumed.

"It doesn't matter who told me." Julia replied. "You realize you just kidnapped a child?"

"She is no child-"

"She's fifteen."

"She's a monster." Agent Ryan's voice rose. "Not human, Julia. A _werewolf_. If I let her go then I would be considered an accomplice to murder." He narrowed his eyes. "I am doing humankind a favor."

"The girl has rights." Julia argued. "And she's not a monster."

"Have you seen her?" Agent Ryan stepped away from his wife, pacing around the room. "She is an affront to nature, a monstrosity. She doesn't even deserve to live. I'm merely keeping her alive to further my research. So that I can prevent human losses." He looked back at her. "Would you have me doom dozens of people to death?"

Julia hesitated for a moment before answering. "How do you know she kills people?" She asked.

Agent Ryan smirked, shaking his head. "You really are dense." He commented, walking back to his desk. Julia frowned, watching him. He took a folder off of his desk and handed it to her. Julia opened the folder and flipped through the pages. There were news articles, charts and graphs, reports, all sorts of things inside.

"I sent Agents Viktor and Dusek to look into the cases of each of those murders." Ryan said, hands behind his back. "Each one of those people were supposedly killed by a bear. At least, that's what police are saying. Unfortunately, they're wrong. The bite marks are inconsistent with the types of bears that live around this area. What would suit them more is a dog, perhaps, because of the jaw bone structure." He paused, letting Julia think it through. "You would agree with me, yes?" He asked.

There was no denying it. As a doctor, Mrs. Ryan could tell even from the photos of the victims that the bite marks were all wrong. These were no bear attacks.

"...Yes..." She mumbled.

Agent Ryan grinned smugly. "But the wounds themselves are much too deep to be from a normal dog. A coyote, maybe..." He shrugged. "But the best match for the wounds would be a wolf. And we have no wild wolves running around in Amity Park." He concluded.

"But how do you know it was _this_ girl?" Julia threw the folder back onto his desk. "There have to be other werewolves. Why her?"

"She was helping Danny Phantom-"

"The hero?" Julia shouted, hands on hips. Agent Ryan turned towards her, staring icily at her.

"The ghost boy is _not _a hero." He spat. "He is as much of a menace as those other ectoplasmic entities that terrorize the city. And anyone in league with that ghost brat is my enemy."

"Anyone who's different from you is your enemy!" Julia shouted back.

"Do not take that tone with me!" Agent Ryan warned. His face turned red. Julia looked at her husband with misty eyes. This was the man that she'd married? What had being involved with this damn organization done to him? He was so different now...

"Izzy's here." Julia looked away. "I guess you're too busy to see her." She walked briskly to the door.

Agent Ryan watched his wife leave with the same, cold look in his eyes. "In fact, I am." He answered as she left the room.

"Why can't Mom do this with me?" Izzy asked, moving a chess piece across the board. Agent James smiled, calculating his next move.

"Your mom and dad are talking." He answered.

The girl pouted. Izzy was a sweet, young girl with brown hair and almond eyes like her parents. She was sitting in Agent James' office, playing Chess with said agent. "I hate coming here." She mumbled.

James frowned. "What, am I really that bad?" He teased. Izzy didn't smile at the joke. James took his turn. "Izzy, your mom and dad-"

"Are gonna divorce." Izzy finished the statement. James blinked. That wasn't what he was going to say.

"Divorce?" He asked.

"I'm not stupid, James." Izzy moved her piece. "They always fight anymore. Dad stays down here all the time. He's... different. He's not like he was a few years ago." Her eyes misted over but she blinked the tears away.

Agent James frowned, moving his piece. "That doesn't mean they're going to divorce. Agent Ryan's a busy man."

"Too busy for us." Izzy pushed her Rook into place. "Check."

Agent James blinked at the game board. "Crap." He scanned the board, looking for options. "Your dad honestly does love you, Izzy. Believe me." He moved his King.

Izzy snorted. "Yeah right." She toppled over his king with her piece. "Checkmate."

"Don't act like that, Izzy." James told her, stacking up the pieces. "Jon loves you."

"He doesn't act like it." Izzy said, looking away. "Even when I come here, all he does is ignore me."

"If you were in his position, Izzy..." James sighed and folded up the game board. "You'd realize how stressful this job is. Granted, I know your dad could do better, but..."

"Isabella!" Julia walked into the room, smiling. "Hi Sweety."

Izzy smiled softly. "Hi Mom. Is Dad with you?"

Julia hesitated before coming fully into the room, shutting the door. "Your dad's doing something very important right now, Honey."

Izzy frowned. "I knew it."

Agent James stood up, holding the Chess game in his hands. "Uh... Izzy beat me again, Julia." He said, trying to change the subject.

Julia looked at him and then at Izzy. "Really? Well... you've just become a master at that game, haven't you?" She walked over to her daughter and ruffled her hair. Izzy pushed her hand away.

"That's seven times in a row now, Agent James." The girl said, smiling.

James grumbled something and put the game away. "Yeah yeah. I'll beat you next time." He smiled.

"Sure you will." Izzy said sarcastically.

"She certainly has your brains." James remarked, looking up at Julia.

"And her father's confidence." The woman added, patting Izzy on the back.

Izzy looked away, frowning.

"Uh... why don't we take a look around?" Julia asked. "James, why don't you show us the new telescope you've built?"

James nodded, smiling. "All right. You want to see it, Izzy?"

Izzy looked up and smiled softly. "Sure, why not?"

A.J. wasn't sure what they'd done to her, but it sure hurt like hell. Two of the agents dragged her limp body into the same room they'd been holding her in before. The one with all the empty cages. It smelled like garbage and blood mixed together. Her vision was blurry, but clear enough to see that one of the agents had opened a cage.

"Nooo..." A.J. mumbled, struggling to get free. Her efforts were futile. She could barely feel her hands and feet, let alone fight whoever had a hold of her. The two agents tossed her into the cage carelessly. A.J. hit the concrete floor hard, coughing.

"Serves you right, Dog." One of the agents sneered.

"Filthy mutt belongs on the floor." The other remarked. Then she was alone in the darkness.

Tears came trickling down her face, splashing onto the cement below her. _Why? _She thought. _Why me?_

After allowing herself a few minutes to sulk, A.J. forced herself to sit up. Crying was not going to help the situation now. She wiped her eyes and looked at her surroundings. It was dark but her eyes easily adjusted to the shadows. There was one long window on the wall of the room.

"Wait... a window..." She narrowed her eyes on the sky outside. The sun was beginning to set. "They said I'm underground... at least... I _was _underground." She shook her head and looked the other way. Metal bars surrounded her body, accompanied only by other empty cages in the room that smelled of road kill.

A.J. tried to stand up, but couldn't. Her whole body ached from head to toe. She didn't know what that maniac... Agent Ryan... yeah, that was his name. She didn't know what he'd done to her, but she could feel it. Her head and neck throbbed, her legs were numb. She could barely think straight. "Some research..." She mumbled, trying to remember the tests she had been put through. There was one... with a laser. She could remember that. And another... with big machines. But one of those tests...

Images flashed through her mind. Green goop... like, what Danny's ghost rays were made out of? There were so many different things done to her, she just couldn't focus.

"I see you're up." A new voice came out of the darkness. A.J. looked up to see the door was open a fraction. She slid to the back wall of her cage, growling. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone.

Agent Ryan stepped out of the shadows, where the sky outside was casting a glare on the floor. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses that had a glare in the lenses.

"What did you do to me?" A.J. growled. He smirked.

"Oh, just ran some tests on you. That's all." He walked up to the bars. "Don't worry. We put you back together again, just like a rag doll. Your skin is very quick to heal itself. Let's just hope your insides are as quick."

A.J. cringed, holding her stomach. "You went inside of me?!"

"Just a little exploratory surgery. Nothing to snarl about." Ryan chuckled. "Of course, there was the Ectoplasm Test..."

"Ectoplasm Test?" A.J. repeated.

"Well, with that damn Danny Phantom and his ghostly friends flying around town, we need to design better weapons to defeat them with..."

"Why don't you just talk to the Fentons?"

Agent Ryan smirked. "Because the Fentons are idiots. Anyways," He continued. "Your body can withstand an ectoplasmic attack better than anyone. It's incredible."

A.J.'s eyes widened. "What did you do?!" She shouted.

Ryan shrugged. "I told you. We just experimented a little. Isolated that gene that's immune to the ectoplasm. Extracted it from your DNA."

A.J. jumped to her feet... and fell over. Her legs were still numb. "You did what?!"

Ryan grimaced in disgust at her. "You can blame yourself for the downfall of your friend, _Danny Phantom._" He spat.

A.J.'s hands balled into fists. Tears stung at her eyes. _No..._ She thought. _Danny, no!_ Anger showed fiercely in her eyes. She looked up, snarling at the man. "You're going to kill him!"

"That's the idea." Ryan smiled. "But I am curious about something else." He changed the subject like it was a normal, regular conversation. A.J. looked at him like he was crazy.

"What exactly happens to a werewolf... when there's a full moon out?" He asked, stroking his chin. Agent Ryan sauntered over to the long window. A.J. followed his eyes up to the sky. The moon was being hidden partially by a cloud, but it was definitely full. "Are all the myths true, I wonder?" Ryan asked.

A.J. gasped. She hadn't noticed the itching inside of her. She'd been in such pain... and part of her body had gone numb. "No!" She screamed.

Ryan looked over at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Get out of here! Right now!" A.J. cried. "You have to! I'm dangerous!" Tears spilled over. She didn't want to hurt anyone, even if it was a psychotic scientist.

He chuckled. "Indeed you are." He agreed.

A.J. looked at him, astonishment clear on her face. She cringed, trying to fight the transformation. Normally she would be able to at least hold it off long enough to get as far away from civilization as possible, but... she was so weak now. Would she be able to hold it?

"You don't understand." She said through her teeth. Her green eyes flashed. "I'm... going to... kill people. Your people! Your agents!" She cringed again. Her pants tore and her tail ripped out, swishing around angrily.

"Yes. I know that." Ryan smiled, walking up to the cage. He took out a key ring.

A.J. looked at him in horror. "What are you doing?! You should be keeping me locked in!!" She shouted. Teeth grew into fangs, nails into claws. Black fur sprouted all over her body from every pore on her body.

Ryan didn't answer her. He just stuck the key in the keyhole and unlocked the cage, opening the door.

"What are you-" A.J. howled in pain and grabbed at her head. Ryan watched the rest of the transformation, standing behind the metal-barred door of the cage.

A.J. stood up, her body covered in fur. Her muscles were huge and her tail stuck out the back of her ripped jeans. Her feet resembled paws while her hands were still hands, only with claws instead of nails. Her ears had turned into black dog ears and sat atop her head but her nose and mouth still remained human-looking. Drool dripped from her razor-sharp fangs. Her eyes flashed.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Agent Ryan asked. A.J. growled at him, completely taken over by instinct. She ran out of the cage and raced out, into the hall.

Agent Ryan removed the protective bars from in front of him and took his walkie talkie out of his pocket. "Code Red." He said into it. "Subject 7-305 has escaped. Everyone is urged to take extreme caution when dealing with her. Dusek, put the base under lockdown."


	13. Chapter 13

**Spoilers:** None

**Warnings:** Mild language; Graphic violence and gore (this chapter is rated borderline Mature for the gore and violence)

**Author's Notes:** All of the agents, along with Julia and Izzy, belong to MikeyCam33196. A.J. is still mine. xD **I sincerely apologize for the formatting of this chapter. It's confusing, but it's not my fault. ffnet, for some reason, won't let me put in any page breaks. xP**

Chapter Thirteen

"_Attention all agents. Prisoner 17 has escaped. Extreme caution is necessary when dealing with her. All personnel is urged to wait in the respective Safe Areas until further notice. Squad 3 is in pursuit of the creature. This is Agent Ryan. I repeat, Prisoner 17 has escaped. This is not a drill."_

"Oh great..." Agent James looked up at the loudspeaker. "I told them to stick her in the Sub-surface Holding Cell..."

"Where is she at?" Julia asked. Izzy was a few feet away, looking at the giant telescope that was almost finished being built.

Agent James took a device out of his coat pocket. "The squad should be split up into pairs, so..." He pointed at the screen of the Life Sign Detector. One red dot blinked on and off on the screen."That has to be her."

Julia looked at the screen. "But... why is she heading towards the lower levels? She's at the surface right now..."

"I don't know... maybe she knows the base is under lock-down and she's trying to find another way out." He shrugged. "But she's heading for us, come on." James grabbed Julia's hand. Julia took Izzy's arm. James led her and Izzy down the corridor.

"Hey! I wasn't done seeing the telescope!" Izzy complained.

"Honey, something's happening, so we need to get into the Safe Rooms, okay?" Julia said. Izzy blinked. As they turned down another hallway, a red light flashed on and off above them.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked.

"This is Agent James," James spoke into the walkie. "My Life Sign Detector reads that the Subject is headed for the stairwell leading to the fourth level."

"Roger that." Another Agent's voice came through the walkie.

"Where's the nearest Safe Room?" Julia asked.

"Actually, there's none on this level. The closest thing would be the Vault." James answered.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked again.

"One of your dad's experiments escaped." Agent James replied. "So we're headed to the Vault."

"Isn't that where Dad keeps all of his weird gadgets and artifacts?" Izzy asked. Julia nodded. "So why are we going there, then?" Izzy scratched her head, confused.

"Because it has steel-reinforced concrete walls." James smiled. "We'll be perfectly safe in there."

"You'll be perfectly safe in there." Julia replied.

James looked over at her but kept running. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you and Izzy get in the Vault. I need to find Jon."

"But... he's six levels above-"

"I know." Julia interrupted. They turned another corner. Agents were running up and down the halls, looking for a safe place to hide. Julia dragged Izzy through the crowds, trying to keep her daughter from getting trampled on.

"Julia, you can talk to Jon afterwards." Agent James argued, watching the Life Sign Detector. "Right now we sort of have a situation on our hands."

"And Jon's going to try to kill her." Julia replied. They stopped in front of a huge, steel door. James walked up to the number pad and punched in the code. The door slowly slid to the side.

"Fine. Then let me come with you." James said.

"No." Julia walked into the Vault. "Izzy, I want you to stay here, okay?" She asked.

"But Mom-"

"Stay here." Julia interrupted her. "I'll be back later." She put her hand on Izzy's cheek. "Just be good and wait for me to come back, okay?" She kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

Before the girl could argue anymore, Julia walked out of the Vault. She waved good-bye as the door slid shut.

"I'm going with you." James asserted.

"No, you're not." Julia looked pointedly at him. "You need to get after the _Subject." _She took a gun out of a harness attached to her leg, under her skirt, and cocked it.

James looked at her soft, brown eyes. "Be careful." He murmured quietly.

She smiled. "You be careful too." She stretched up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. James wrapped a hand around the small of her back and another around the back of her head. He brought her closer to him, deepening the kiss.

"Where'd she go?!" They heard the choppy voice through the walkie. "Kyle, you got a visual? Kyle?"

There was no answer. James pulled away from Julia and dug his walkie out of his pocket.

"Smith, what's going on?" He asked.

"James! We lost the Prisoner and Kyle's not answering his radio. There are three agents down already." Smith said through the walkie.

"All right, hang on. I'll be there." He ordered.

"I'll take the elevator." Julia said.

James sighed. "Be careful, Julia."

She took his face in her hands. "Don't worry." She smiled before running off down the hall. James looked back at his Life Sign Detector and picked his walkie back up. "She's on the fifth level now. Headed for Lab One." He said, racing the opposite direction down the hall. "Squads 11 and 13, follow-"

"James." The voice rang through his earpiece. Agent James stopped.

"Ryan?" He asked.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Agent Ryan snapped.

"I'm... calling more Squads to help-"

"You have no authority to do that." Ryan hissed. "I am taking care of the situation."

(pagebreak)

Agent Ryan paced back and forth in the Control Room. Several agents were scurrying about fixing things or watching the cameras or entering codes into the computers.

"But Sir, you only have one Squad after her. She's going to get away!" James said through Ryan's ear piece.

"I said, I have control of the situation." Ryan snapped. He walked over to one of the security cameras that held a still-shot of Julia and James in front of the Vault, kissing. Agent Ryan grit his teeth.

"Jon, at least let me go." James said.

"No." Ryan hissed.

"Julia's out there, damnit!" James shouted.

Ryan narrowed his eyes on the picture. "Is she," He didn't sound surprised.

"Sir, we have a visual on the Subject." Agent Dusek said from his seat in front of a monitor. Ryan deleted the picture off of the screen in front of him and walked over to the agent.

A.J. was seen on-camera, sniffing around the corridor like a dog.

"She's on Level Five, Sir. What do you think she's doing?" Dusek asked.

Ryan put his glasses on to take a closer look. "She appears to be looking for something."

"Ryan!" James shouted in his ear. Agent Ryan cringed.

"No, James! That is final. Stay on your level. Do _not _let that creature near the other experiments." He ordered.

"But-"

"Argue with me, James, and you will be thrown out of here faster than is humanly possible." Ryan hissed. James was quiet. "Over and out." Ryan spat, shutting off his earpiece.

(pagebreak)

James gritted his teeth. He took out his earpiece and threw it onto the ground, stomping on it with his foot. He took a gun from his coat and cocked it.

"I'm not letting that thing get to Julia." He whispered, running for the stairs.

(pagebreak)

Stupid people. They should've known better than to get in her way. She was indestructible. She wasn't even trying to hurt anyone... at the moment. She knew who Anubis needed dead, and it was none of these people. They just kept getting in her way. She also didn't know how the hell to get out of here, so she thought she'd take a detour.

A.J. was using this opportunity to find that DNA Ryan and his goons had taken from her. Without that, they wouldn't be able to hurt Danny, or anyone like him. A.J. had followed the scent of herself down to the Fifth Level. It was strongest here, though already faint. All she had to do was find the samples and destroy them. And then get out of here...

"Hey, Dog!" Someone shouted behind her.

A.J. stood up and turned around to see the agent. He was trying to act confident, but she could smell his fear... and the fact that his hands were shaking wasn't helping.

"I don't have time for this." A.J. snarled. Her fangs were making it hard for her to speak clearly.

"Stop right now!" The agent shouted. "I'll shoot!"

"Good for you." A.J. sneered and turned back around. She took off down the corridor again just as the agent fired. His shaky hands made him miss.

"Hold it, Mutt!" Two more agents ran into the hall in front of her. A.J. stopped again. "We don't want to kill you!"

"I don't want to kill you either so get out of my way!" She shouted. The agents fired their guns. A.J.'s sensitive hearing caught the sound of the bullets and she located them within a fraction of a second, easily dodging them. She ran at the agents, attempting to knock them out of the way. But the two men retaliated with punches and kicks. A.J. caught their fists and shoved them away. She dropped to the ground and spun her legs around, kicking their legs out from under them. One of the agents stayed down but the other one got back up and threw another punch. A.J. caught his fist again and squeezed it. There was a sickening crackling sound and the agent screamed, falling to the floor with his broken hand.

"Miller!" The shaky agent shouted, running towards the downed men. A.J. ignored him and continued around the corner, trying to keep her scent on her mind rather than the smell of blood from the humans around the base. She had already injured five agents. She wasn't trying to, but they insisted on coming after her.

Finally, she came upon a Laboratory where she smelled her scent the strongest. A.J. opened the door... and gasped.

There were several cages in the room, each occupying their own mutated version of some animal or half-animal creature inside. Each one scrambled around inside their too-small cages and roared or howled in anguish or aggravation.

She stood there, frozen in disgust. "What... kind of..."

_You don't have time for this..._ A familiar voice rang in her head. A.J. flinched.

"No way out..." She growled.

_Then kill everyone here. _Anubis hissed. _And then find a way out._

Her pupils shrunk and her eyes widened. "N-No..." She mumbled. She could feel her mind kick into Instinct Mode. He'd given her the order and now she had to carry it out.

A.J. walked into the room, searching out the sample and found it at the back, inside a glass case. There were several test tubes in the case, so she just picked it up and smashed it on the ground, stomping all of the test tubes and ruining them.

"Hold it right there!"

A.J. turned around. A young man stood in the doorway, pointing a gun at her. She grinned and within seconds, she had disappeared from in front of him. A black blur came up beside him, knocking the gun out of his hand. A.J. grabbed the agent by the collar and threw him out of the room. He hit the opposite wall with a loud smack and slid down the wall, blood smearing all over.

A.J. growled maliciously and leapt out of the room, heading for the stairs.

(pagebreak)

"Dr. Ryan!" An agent came running up to Julia as she exited the elevator. "Dr. Ryan, Carson and Newman are hurt bad, Ma'am. They need medical attention." He said urgently. Julia nodded, breathing deeply and followed the agent down the hall.

A man and a woman were lying on the ground, bloody and bruised. Julia put her gun on the floor and leaned over them.

"I've never seen anything like it! That girl... she was so fast. They didn't even see her coming." The other agent said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yes, I can see that." Julia said distantly, taking their pulses. "Still alive. When did she come through here?"

"About fifteen minutes ago. She was heading downstairs to Level Two."

"All right." Julia stood back up. "What's your name?"

"Richard, Ma'am. Agent Richard Carter."

"Okay, Carter. I want you to assemble a team of doctors and nurses from the Infirmary and treat these two and any other fallen agents on this level, all right?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Stay on this level." Julia commanded. Agent Carter nodded and took off down the hall.

Julia shook her head and continued on her way. Jon was only around the corner in the Control Room...

"Wait! Stop!"

Julia turned around. Two agents had pulled guns and were facing off with someone down the hall. Julia looked over their shoulders. The creature stood there. She was tall and muscular, covered in black fur... but stood like a human. Julia's eyes widened as the creature raced up to the agents in a split second, knocking the guns out of their hands without effort. She kicked one of the agents away and pounced on the other, sending him to the floor.

The fallen agent's scream caused Julia to flinch and shut her eyes. When she opened them, the creature was perched on the fallen agent's body, her tail whipping around aggressively in the air. Blood covered her mouth and dripped down her neck. Julia's eyes widened in horror and she started running again, around the corner.

The woman desperately felt around for her gun and panicked when she remembered leaving it by Agent Carson's body.

She tripped on her high heels and stumbled forward, catching herself. When she looked back up, the bloody creature stood, growling, in front of her.

_Then kill everyone here._ Anubis' order still rang in A.J.'s mind. She looked on helplessly at the woman scared-stiff in front of her. A.J.'s eyes misted over. _Don't do it!_ She told herself, but her body unwillingly took a step forward, towards the frightened woman. _Run, Stupid! Run!_ She begged the woman in front of her, but she didn't run... didn't move. _PLEASE!!_ A.J. screamed in her head, but her lips wouldn't form the words. She couldn't warn anyone, say anything. _No..._ A.J. closed her eyes as her body lurched forward, pouncing on the defenseless doctor.

(pagebreak)

Agent James hurried down the bloody corridor on Level One. Six agents down- two were already dead. He cocked his gun.

"Please Julia..." He whispered to himself. Turning a corner, he stopped, wide-eyed. The creature was standing, holding a limp body in her arms. Blood on her face. "No..." He whispered. His hands started to shake.

A.J. looked up at him and growled. She let go of the body and Julia fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Julia!!" James shouted, running up to the corpse. Anger burned intensely in his green eyes. "You monster! You monster!!" He shouted again and again, firing off shot after shot at A.J. The wolfa simply dodged them expertly.

"Julia!" The gun was out of ammo. Agent James dropped it and fell to his knees next to her body. Tears stung at his eyes.

A.J. backed away from the two for a moment. Her heart raced. _What did you do?!_ She shouted at herself in her head, but her body still wouldn't listen.

...K_ill everyone here..._

She still had a job to do. That agent was still part of the 'everyone here' grouping. A.J. took an intimidating step forward and howled threateningly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Spoilers:** None

**Warnings:** Mild language, mild gruesome images, sensual material

**Author's Notes:** Agents are © MikeyCam33196.

SPOILER- Don't read this note until you've read the chapter!!

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(Now, the only reason why I had Jack leave was because I really had no idea how to play him anymore and A.J. now has another boyfriend/fiance'/husband (depending on what time period I role play in xD) named Kai. You may know him from TheeBycth's stories.)

(pagebreak)

(pagebreak)

**Chapter Fourteen**

The fierce look in the creature's eyes told James that he was going to die. Unarmed and shaking with anger and sorrow, he was a sitting duck, prey just waiting for the predator. But should he care? The woman he loved was gone now, taken away by that wretched creature. She was no longer with him... her bright smile, her soft kiss...

James shut his eyes and hugged her limp body closer to him, waiting for his fate to come.

"There she is!"

James looked up to see a dozen agents marching in front of him. He laid Julia's body down gently and stood up, confused. There was a line of agents armed with weapons standing in front of the creature, separating him from his death.

"On my mark..." Ryan's voice was close. James spun around to see the Head Agent standing there, hands folded behind his back. He was staring angrily at James.

"She's... dead..." James muttered, motioning to Julia's body. Ryan held up a hand to silence him.

"I realize that. Thank you." He snapped. "Switch to stun." Ryan ordered the agents. Agent James gritted his teeth.

"Stun?! You're still trying to capture her?!" He shouted. He was on the edge of losing it and all that jerk was worried about doing was capturing the werewolf.

Ryan glared at him again, silencing him.

(pagebreak)

A.J. scanned the crowd. There were at least ten of them aiming weapons at her. She couldn't take them all out without getting shot at least once. Then she would be taken captive again and fail Anubis. Her mind switched from fight to flight mode. She needed to get out now.

A.J. glanced behind her. There were double doors shut and locked a foot or two behind her. Next to them was an electrical box. If she could reach it...

"So, feel like giving up now?" Agent Ryan asked, stepping up in front of the agents. "I don't _have_ to shoot you."

A.J. glared at him and smirked. "I never give up." She snarled.

Ryan nodded slowly. "Good... because I wanted to shoot you." He grinned. "Fire!"

As the agents pulled their triggers, A.J. stepped back against the double doors. She smashed her fist into the electrical box and grabbed a handful of wires, ripping them out. The lights all down the hall went out and she dropped to the ground to avoid the blasts.

Some wires or light bulbs blew, sending loose wires or shards of glass everywhere. There was a humming, like an engine revving, and then a loud explosion filled the air.

"Sir!" Dusek came running out of the Control Room. "The power's out completely! Something's happening in the Core, Sir." He sounded panicked. "A massive build-up of power."

"Well fix it!" Ryan shouted. "The rest of you, after her!"

The ten agents ran through the double doors A.J. had escaped through.

Ryan turned to Agent James. "Where is my daughter?" He asked.

James' eyes widened. "Izzy..." He mumbled. "She's in the Vault, Sir. Julia locked her-"

"Get her out of there." Ryan said and turned away.

"But Sir!" Agent James shouted. "What about Julia?" He glanced down at the corpse.

"Let the dead bury their dead." Ryan tossed the words over his shoulder.

James gritted his teeth in anger. Tears stung at his eyes again. He picked up Julia's body and carried her to the side of the hall, laying her down gently. "I'll be back for you." He promised and then took off, heading for the Vault.

(pagebreak)

Finally, she'd gotten away from those pathetic humans. All she had to do was find the exit now. Shouldn't be too hard... Now that the power was off, she should be able to get around the lock-down somehow. She just had to figure out how...

A.J. shoulder-rammed a door and stumbled into the room. Nope. No exit here. She cursed under her breath and then continued down the hall. After another ten minutes of running around the base like a rat in a maze, she finally found a giant, steel door that looked promising. The only problem was that it was steel... and closed. A.J. walked up to the number pad and tried punching in a code. But the power was off... so it didn't work...

"Great..." She grumbled.

(pagebreak)

Agent James had to take the stairs, as the elevators weren't working. It took him a lot longer to get down to the Seventh Level, which had its power out as well.

_Hmm... that shouldn't have happened..._ He thought to himself. _This level's on a different breaker..._

That's when he smelled it. The smell of smoke. James' eyes widened and he sped up his pace, running to the door of the Vault. There was a giant hole in the steel door, like something exploded from the inside.

"Izzy!" James shouted, ducking into the room. It was dark and smoky. "Izzy, can you hear me?!" He called. There was no answer. James stumbled around, coughing. "Izzy!" He tripped over something and crashed to the floor. Agent James turned around to see the girl, unconscious, on the ground. She had scorch marks on her hands and face. Her clothes were singed.

The agent scrambled around and lifted Izzy into his arms, carrying her out of the Vault. "No, not you." He murmured. "Not you too." Agent James laid Izzy down gently on the ground, taking her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God." She was still alive. "Izzy, Izzy wake up." He shook her shoulders gently.

Izzy stirred, her eyes opening a fraction. "Ow..." She mumbled.

Agent James sighed with relief again. "Izzy, what happened?" He asked. The girl shut her eyes, wiggling her burned fingers.

"It hurts..." She complained. James nodded.

"I know. We'll get it fixed. First, tell me what happened." He said, helping her sit up.

"I.. don't know. The power went out and then I heard something hissing. I thought it was an animal, so I went to see what it was..." She shook her head. "That's all I can remember."

"Shit." Agent James scooped Izzy into his arms.

"What's wrong? Where are we going?" Izzy asked. Agent James raced down the hallway.

"There's a gas leak." James said, heaving the girl over his shoulder so he could get out his walkie talkie. "Ryan! Ryan come in!" He shouted.

"What is it?" Came the snappy reply. "Did you get Isabella?"

"Yes Sir, she's hurt." James replied. "But we've got a bigger problem. There's a gas leak somewhere. There was an explosion in the Vault. When that damn werewolf pulled those wires, it must have sparked something somewhere."

"Shit." Ryan answered. "Get up here as quickly as you can. We're evacuating the building."

As James leapt up the stairs two at a time, the lights came back on. Well, some of them anyways.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked, blowing on her burned hands and cringing.

"Good. They got the emergency power back on." James mumbled. "Izzy, the base is about to blow. We need to get out of here." He answered.

"Blow?! Like, blow up?!" Izzy shouted.

"Stay calm, it'll be all right." James assured her.

"Where's Dad? Where's Mom?!" Izzy cried.

James felt his heart stop for a moment. How was he going to tell her? "You're Dad's on the Surface Level." He said.

"And Mom?" Izzy asked. James sighed. "Agent James, where's my mom?!" Izzy was beginning to panic.

"Julia is... dead, Izzy." James answered quietly.

(pagebreak)

A siren filled the air. A.J. winced at the sound. Some of the dimmer lights had come back on now.

"Evacuate all personnel!" Ryan's voice over the intercom was urgent. "This is Agent Ryan. Repeat, evacuate all personnel! This is _not _a drill!"

The giant, steel door behind her screeched. A.J. turned around, blinking in confusion. It started lifting and soon all that was in front of her was a simple set of glass doors. A.J. smiled and ran out of the building, speeding down the road as fast as she could. When she got about a hundred feet away or so, she heard a massive explosion. Startled by it, A.J. tripped and fell over. She looked behind her. The building that had kept her captive was now gone and whatever was left was on fire.

Several white planes were flying from the rubble, heading south.

_The next day..._

"They did what?" Dakota asked, swinging his legs as he sat on the tree branch.

"They tried to isolate the factor in my DNA that's strong against ectoplasm." A.J. answered. She was sitting on the tree branch below him.

"If they put their hands on you again..." Viper shook her head, sitting next to her. "I swear, I'll learn a new decapitating jutsu just for them." She crossed her arms.

A.J. smiled softly. "Do you have any jutsu that'll make an evil person good?" She asked.

Viper looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

A.J. shrugged and looked away. "I don't want to kill anyone, Viper..." She said quietly.

Dakota sighed, rolling his eyes. "Well they want to kill you." He said.

"So?" A.J. replied. "You want me to lower myself to their level?" She asked.

"She's right." Jack spoke up. The group looked down at the psychic who was sitting on a tree branch slightly lower than the others.

"Hey! He finally decided to speak!" Viper giggled. Jack ignored her.

"How many did you end up killing?" He asked quietly.

A.J. stayed silent for a moment. "I... don't remember. Six? Maybe seven?" She sighed. "It could have been more if they hadn't opened that door..."

Jack looked down at the ground.

_I'm sorry... _His thought drifted over to A.J. She shuddered when it entered her mind.

_It's not your fault... _She answered with her own thoughts.

"Aww, come on Guys!" Viper whined. "I know you two are talking psycho-kinetically!"

"It's 'telepathically'." Dakota corrected. "Idiot..."

Viper frowned. She made a hand sign and closed her eyes.

The branch Dakota was sitting on was sliced from the trunk. He yelped and grabbed hold of another branch as he fell. "VIPER!!" He shouted, scrambling up to the other branch. Viper giggled.

"A.J., I need to talk to you." Jack said quietly, looking up at her. She blinked. "Alone." He added.

Viper pouted and crossed her arms.

Dakota smirked. "Ooo, wonder what it could be about." He teased.

A.J. blushed but Jack just let it go. His blue eyes lit up and his body was encompassed in a blue aura. Using his telekinetic powers, he lowered himself to the ground. Jack looked up and raised a glowing hand. A blue aura surrounded A.J.'s body and he brought her down gently beside him. She shuddered again.

"It creeps me out when you do that." She remarked. He smiled softly.

"Sorry." He took her hand. "Come on." Jack led the wolfa through the forest for a long time before they came to the clearing that A.J. used for training. He sighed heavily and turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?" A.J. asked, cocking her head to the side.

Jack ran his fingers through his carrot-top hair. "I've got some... bad news." He said.

"What is it?" A.J. put a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me."

He looked up at her and frowned. "Promise you won't freak out." He said.

A.J. hesitated for a minute. "...O-Okay..." She answered. Jack looked back down at the ground and twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"A.J., I'm leaving." He said finally. She looked at him confused.

"Huh?"

"My parents are..." He began. "My dad got a new job somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona. We're heading there tonight." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"What?!" A.J. shouted. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"Because I was afraid this is how you'd react." Jack admitted. "I'm sorry, I should have told you before."

"Damn right!" A.J. shouted.

"You promised not to freak out." He reminded her.

A.J. rubbed her forehead with her hand, keeping her free hand on her hip. "Do Dakota and Viper know yet?"

"No. I'm going to tell them later." Jack answered quietly. "I'm sorry A.J."

She looked at him, green eyes glassy. "Tonight?" She asked.

He nodded. "Around eight."

She looked back down at the ground, sniffling. Jack took a step forward and wrapped her into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder. "I'll miss you." She whispered. "Please try to visit."

Jack smiled. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises." He hugged her tighter. "You'll get along fine without me, I'm sure of it."

A.J. shook her head. "No. Because now you're leaving me with Moe and Larry back there." She joked, trying to inject a lighter tone to the conversation.

Jack chuckled. "And they wouldn't be complete without their Curly." He smiled. "You've done pretty well on your own so far."

A.J. nodded. "Doesn't mean I like it." She whispered.

Jack released the hug and put his hands on her shoulders. She was staring at the ground. He used a hand to lift her chin. "You'll make new friends."

"No one like you." She replied, eyes misting over.

Jack smiled softly. "And I'll never meet anyone like you." He said. They stared at each other for a long moment until Jack leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. He wrapped his arms around her. A.J., taken aback by the action, breathed in sharply through her nose, frozen out of shock. Eventually, her eyes closed and she found herself returning the kiss.

(pagebreak)

"See? I told you I knew what they were doing." Viper said from her vantage point in the trees. Dakota stood next to her, face screwed up in disgust at the picture of Jack and A.J. below them.

"I don't think I am ever going to get used to you humans' culture." He stuck out his tongue, grossed out. "You actually touch each other's faces with your own?"

Viper looked over at him. "It's called kissing, Romeo. And it's something that's considered very sweet and romantic on our planet."

Dakota looked away. "You're weird." He commented before leaving. Viper rolled her eyes.


End file.
